To wear this slavish chain?
Deprived of all created bliss,
Through hardship, toil and pain!
How long have I in bondage lain,
And languished to be free!
Alas! and must I still complain—
Deprived of liberty.
Oh, Heaven! and is there no relief
This side the silent grave—
To soothe the pain—to quell the grief
And anguish of a slave?
Come Liberty, thou cheerful sound,
Roll through my ravished ears!
Come, let my grief in joys be drowned,
And drive away my fears.
Say unto foul oppression, Cease:
The poem contains many rhetorical exclamations and questions which makes it sound festive and ceremonial. Horton addresses Liberty several times throughout the poem. He shows how highly he values it through the series of epithets. The poet associates such characteristics as “cheerful”and “golden” with Liberty. Addressing Liberty as “dear” endows the relationship between Horton and Liberty with more intimacy and warmness. He compares Freedom with a graceful Swan. What a beautiful simile!
On Liberty and Slavery