The writings of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume 3.
John Greenleaf Whittier, Ed.

[9]

Anti-Slavery Poems

To William Lloyd Garrison.

champion of those who groan beneath
     Oppression's iron hand:
In view of penury, hate, and death,
     I see thee fearless stand.
Still bearing up thy lofty brow,
     In the steadfast strength of truth,
In manhood sealing well the vow
     And promise of thy youth.

Go on, for thou hast chosen well;
     On in the strength of God!
Long as one human heart shall swell
     Beneath the tyrant's rod.
Speak in a slumbering nation's ear,
     As thou hast ever spoken,
Until the dead in sin shall hear,
     The fetter's link be broken!

I love thee with a brother's love,
     I feel my pulses thrill,
To mark thy spirit soar above
     The cloud of human ill.