Classic Poem

Freeman! tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are!
Bondman! Lo! Britannia's light,
Freedom's glory-beaming star!
Freeman! do its blessed rays
Promise good to slaves like me?
Bondman! yes, its glorious blaze
Lights your path to liberty.

Freeman! tell us of the night,
Does its star approach our land?
Bondman! mark yon dawning light;
Lo! the breaking day's at hand:
Freeman! can these beams alone
Bid our dreadful bondage cease?
Bondman! God is on the throne,
He will bring thee quick release.

Freeman! shall our fetter'd race
Cease to wear the galling chain?
Bondman! lo! the God of grace
Comes to end thy tyrant's reign.
Freeman! can it—can it be?
Shall we share thy glorious name?
Bondman! yes, thou shalt be free—
Spread thy great deliv'rer's fame.