Shall Be Free.

"ALL PERSON'S HELD AS SLAVES, within said designated States and parts of States, ARE, AND HENCEFORWARD SHALL BE FREE!"
- Proclamation of Emancipation, Jan. 1st, 1863.


"Shall be free! shall be free!" - lo, the strong winds have caught it,
    And borne it from hill top to hill top afar,
And echo to answering echo has taught it,
    Through the din of the conflict, the thunder of war!
It has flashed like the lightning from ocean to ocean,
    Across the black face of the skies it has blazed,
And strong men have thrilled with unwonted emotion,
    And shouted for joy as they listened and gazed!

"Shall be free! shall be free!" - the poor, manacled "chattel"
    Has caught the sweet word amid fetters and blows;
It has burst on his ear through the tumult of battle,
    Through the shoutings of friends and the cursings of foes;
And lifting his poor, fettered hands up to heaven,
    He has joined in the song that ascended to God;
Or, kneeling in trembling rapture, has given
    Thanksgiving to Him who has broken the rod!

"Shall be free! shall be free!" - there are ears that have listened,
    There are lips that have prayed through long, agonized years,
There are eyes that with hope's fitful radiance have glistened
    Yet, as hope was deferred, have grown heavy with tears
Joy! joy! - thou hast heard it at last, lonely weeper,
    Look up, for the prayer of thy anguish is heard.
Look up, ye bruised spirits, for God is your keeper,
    And the heart of His boundless compassion is stirred.

"Shall be free! shall be free!" - O Humanity, listen
    The Dawn that long since on the pale "Watcher" shone
Now higher, and brighter, and clearer has risen,
    As the Day star rides on toward the glories of noon.
Those words that rang out from the isles of the ocean,
    Sarmatia has echoed from mountain to sea
And America, from her red field of commotion,
    He echoes the same stirring words - "Shall be free!"

Hark! - all the wild air is astir with the tempest!
    The swift lightnings leap in red arrows on high!
Winds shriek to mad winds, and the hoarse thunder answer
    As it ploughs its dread path through the shuddering sky!
There are hisses of serpents, and howlings of demons,
    And moanings of anguish by land and by sea,
But, clearer than angel tones, high o'er the tumult,
    Rings out the glad utterance - "they shall be free!"

And lo! dimly seen, on the crest of the billow
    Lashed white by the storm, undismayed and serene,
Moves that form that once bent o'er the sufferer's pillow,
    And touched the dim eyes till strange glories were seen
And sweetly, to ears that will patiently listen,
    That voice which spake "peace" to turbulent sea,
Now speaks through the roar of the tempest uprisen,
    In tones unmistakable, - "THEY SHALL BE FREE!"

Pamela S. Vining (J. C. Yule)

Pamela S. Vining, also known by her pseudonym J. C. Yule, was an English poet whose work was recognized in the 19th century. Despite her significant contribution to English poetry, detailed information about her life, including her birth and death dates, remains elusive. She remains a noteworthy figure in the canon of English literature for her emotive and thought-provoking poetry.

Pamela S. Vining (J. C. Yule)

Balmy Morning

Pamela S. Vining (J. C. Yule), Simple Poetry

To A Day Lily

Pamela S. Vining (J. C. Yule), Simple Poetry

The Earth Voice And Its Answer

Pamela S. Vining (J. C. Yule), Simple Poetry

Greeting Hymn.

Pamela S. Vining (J. C. Yule), Simple Poetry

English

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Over the waves of the Western sea,
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    When the sky was red with the sunset's flame, -
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The waves behind her, and wastes before,
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Canada

Fair land of peace! - to Britain's rule and throne
Adherent still, yet happier than alone,
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The Worlds Convention Of The Friends Of Emancipation, Held In London In 1840

Yes, let them gather! Summon forth
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From every land, whose hills have heard
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From out his cloudy eyrie breaking:
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Or truth one altar built to her;
Where'er a human eye is weeping
O'er wrongs which Earth's sad children know;
Where'er a single heart is keeping
Its prayerful watch with human woe:
Thence let them come, and greet each other,
And know in each a friend and brother!
Yes, let them come! from each green vale
Where England's old baronial halls
Still bear upon their storied walls
The grim crusader's rusted mail,
Battered by Paynim spear and brand
On Malta's rock or Syria's sand.!
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The Freed Islands

A few brief years have passed away
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Beneath the tropic's fiery ray:
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Scowled darkly from her island bowers?
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With mother-land, we fully share
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The tireless energy of will,
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A Summons

Men of the North-land! where's the manly spirit
Of the true-hearted and the unshackled gone?
Sons of old freemen, do we but inherit
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Is the old Pilgrim spirit quenched within us,
Stoops the strong manhood of our souls so low,
That Mammon's lure or Party's wile can win us
To silence now?
Now, when our land to ruin's brink is verging,
In God's name, let us speak while there is time!
Now, when the padlocks for our lips are forging,
Silence is crime!
What! shall we henceforth humbly ask as favors
Rights all our own? In madness shall we barter,
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God and our charter?
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The Sentence Of John L. Brown

Ho! thou who seekest late and long
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Man of the Pulpit, look!
Lift up those cold and atheist eyes,
This ripe fruit of thy teaching see;
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The incense of this sacrifice
This blossom of the gallows tree!
Search out for slavery's hour of need
Some fitting text of sacred writ;
Give heaven the credit of deed
Which shames the nether pit.
Kneel, smooth blasphemer, unto Him
Whose truth is on thy lips a lie;
Ask that His bright winged cherubim
May bend around that scaffold grim
To guard and bless and sanctify.
O champion of the people's cause!
Suspend thy loud and vain rebuke
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Man of the Senate, look!
Was t...

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