| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | I. Freedom | | By Henry Theodore Tuckerman (1813–1871) |
| | | FREEDOM! beneath thy banner I was born. | |
| O, let me share thy full and perfect life! | |
| Teach me opinion’s slavery to scorn, | |
| And to be free from passion’s bitter strife; | |
| Free of the world, a self-dependent soul, | 5 |
| Nourished by lofty aims and genial truth, | |
| And made more free by love’s serene control, | |
| The spell of beauty and the hopes of youth: | |
| The liberty of Nature let me know, | |
| Caught from her mountains, groves, and crystal streams; | 10 |
| Her starry host, and sunset’s purple glow, | |
| That woo the spirit with celestial dreams, | |
| On fancy’s wing exultingly to soar, | |
| Till life’s harsh fetters clog the heart no more! | | | | |
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