Poems on Slavery/To William E. Channing
TO WILLIAM E. CHANNING.
The pages of thy book I read, And as I closed each one,My heart, responding, ever said, "Servant of God! well done!"
Well done! Thy words are great and bold; At times they seem to me,Like Luther's, in the days of old, Half-battles for the free.
Go on, until this land revokes The old and chartered Lie,The feudal curse, whose whips and yokes Insult humanity.
A voice is ever at thy side Speaking in tones of might,Like the prophetic voice, that cried To John in Patmos, "Write!"
Write! and tell out this bloody tale; Record this dire eclipse,This Day of Wrath, this Endless Wail, This dread Apocalypse!