Stanzas on Freedom
By James Russell Lowell
Men! whose boast it is that ye
Come of fathers brave and free,
If there breathe on earth a slave,
Are ye truly free and brave?
If ye do not feel the chain,
When it works a brother's pain,
Are ye not base slaves indeed,
Slaves unworthy to be freed?
Come of fathers brave and free,
If there breathe on earth a slave,
Are ye truly free and brave?
If ye do not feel the chain,
When it works a brother's pain,
Are ye not base slaves indeed,
Slaves unworthy to be freed?
Women! who shall one day bear
Sons to breathe New England air,
If ye hear, without a blush,
Deeds to make the roused blood rush
Like red lava through your veins,
For your sisters now in chains,--
Answer! are ye fit to be
Mothers of the brave and free?
Sons to breathe New England air,
If ye hear, without a blush,
Deeds to make the roused blood rush
Like red lava through your veins,
For your sisters now in chains,--
Answer! are ye fit to be
Mothers of the brave and free?
Is true Freedom but to break
Fetters for our own dear sake,
And, with leathern hearts, forget
That we owe mankind a debt?
No! true freedom is to share
All the chains our brothers wear
And, with heart and hand, to be
Earnest to make others free!
Fetters for our own dear sake,
And, with leathern hearts, forget
That we owe mankind a debt?
No! true freedom is to share
All the chains our brothers wear
And, with heart and hand, to be
Earnest to make others free!
They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak;
They are slaves who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think;
They are slaves who dare not be
In the right with two or three.
For the fallen and the weak;
They are slaves who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think;
They are slaves who dare not be
In the right with two or three.
Voices of America
- country can't be free if there are slaves
- a slave is not a black man but one who cannot fight
- expects one kind of thought
- ancestry of warriors, bravery, freedom
- however while you breathe the air a slave breathes do you not breathe their pain
- you are more enslaved by your selfishness and are therefore the lowest of slaves
- mothers who are hesitant to let your sons fight for their country: are you protecting them from deeds of valor and bravery?
- juxtaposition of expected roles and collective consciousness
- red lava = volcano -> eruption -> anger -> revolution -> abolitionists
- sow seeds of empathy, sensitivity, responsibility to mankind, selflessness
- 1st & 2nd stanzas - expectations
- 3rd & 4th stanzas - solutions
- feel, but also practice
- scared to do the right thing because they don't want criticism or enemies
- only few follow the path of truth don't be a coward
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