Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume VIII. National Spirit. 1904. | | | | II. Freedom | | Switzerland | | James Sheridan Knowles (1784–1862) |
| | From “William Tell”
ONCE Switzerland was free! With what a pride | |
| I used to walk these hills,—look up to heaven, | |
| And bless God that it was so! It was free | |
| From end to end, from cliff to lake ’t was free! | |
| Free as our torrents are, that leap our rocks, | 5 |
| And plough our valleys, without asking leave; | |
| Or as our peaks, that wear their caps of snow | |
| In very presence of the regal sun! | |
| How happy was I in it then! I loved | |
| Its very storms. Ay, often have I sat | 10 |
| In my boat at night, when, midway o’er the lake, | |
| The stars went out, and down the mountain gorge | |
| The wind came roaring,—I have sat and eyed | |
| The thunder breaking from his cloud, and smiled | |
| To see him shake his lightnings o’er my head, | 15 |
| And think—I had no master save his own! | | | | |
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