Weep, oh, Columbia! Be thou bowed down
With grief; and more, grief mixt
with bitter shame!
Unequal laws have snatched stars from thy crown,
And unchecked license stained
thy glorious name:
For, born to brood the brotherhood of man,
Thou’st nourished in thy bosom
class and caste;
And in thine arms, where freemen’s rule began,
Thou’st nursed the fiend to deal
it death at last.
Yes! Wring thy hands! Where richest fruits are found,
There also deadliest poison-weeds
do grow;
And, ’mid the fruitage of thy choicest ground,
Are sprung up tares, that gender
deepest woe.
Thou brought’st forth children to be kings, all kings,
And rule, with equity, thy wide
domain
By chosen servants, sheltered ’neath thy wings,
And yet—alas!—the chief of these
lies slain.
Where is thy might, oh, Country, Mother mine?
Is justice, pity-drunk, at baneful
rest?
Can freedom’s torch with sun-like glory shine
When fed by blood filched from
a freeman’s breast?
Can freedom live, if freedom must enthrone
Their ruler on a seat begirt with
steel,
And give him might his service to disown,
And force his masters at his feet
to kneel?
Thou’st pitied all by law or want opprest,
And thousands have found freedom
in thy land;
Shall these aim poisoned arrows at thy breast,
Or pierce thy heart with vile,
ungrateful hand?
Shall thy kind laws, which made these people free
In word and act, in which thy
children trust,
Be wiped out by Disorder’s licensee,
And thy grand fabric crumble into
dust?
Come, dry thine eyes! Stretch forth thy flaming spear!
Gird on the armor of thy righteous
laws!
And, o’er our honored chieftain’s gory bier,
Vow once again to fight for freedom’s
cause!
For freedom lives in law and law in love,
And love is naught lest justice
wield her sword;
So wail thy slaughtered son, like mournful dove,
But flash the lightnings of thy
wrath abroad!
Write this decree upon the vaults of blue,
And on the storm-black clouds,
with pen of fire:
That all men stand in equal love to you,
Though placed in humble walks
or stations higher;
And he, who plans the blood of man to shed,
Rule to destroy, on him thy wrath
be hurled:
Thus shalt thou make atonement to the dead,
And give an added blessing to
the world.
