Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Switzerland and Austria: Vol. XVI. 1876–79. | | | | Introductory to Switzerland | | William Tell | | William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878) |
| | | CHAINS may subdue the feeble spirit, but thee, | |
| Tell, of the iron heart! they could not tame; | |
| For thou wert of the mountains; they proclaim | |
| The everlasting creed of liberty. | |
| That creed is written on the untrampled snow, | 5 |
| Thundered by torrents which no power can hold, | |
| Save that of God, when he sends forth his cold, | |
| And breathed by winds that through the free heaven blow. | |
| Thou, while thy prison walls were dark around | |
| Didst meditate the lesson Nature taught, | 10 |
| And to thy brief captivity was brought | |
| A vision of thy Switzerland unbound. | |
| The bitter cup they mingled strengthened thee | |
| For the great work to set thy country free. | | | | |
|
|
