ODE TO MAZZINI
The freedom of the fair world thou hast made;
Whose light in Heaven is life,
Whose rest above our strife—
Whose bright sky overvaults earth's barren shade;
Who hearest all ere this weak prayer can rise,
Before whose viewless eyes
Unrolled and far the starry future lies;
Behold what men have done,
What is beneath thy sun—
What stains the sceptred hand, sin lifts to thee
In prayer-like mockery—
What binds the heart Thou madest to be free.
Since we are blind, give light—
Since we are feeble, smite—
How long shall man be scornful in thy sight,
"Fear not—He cares not, or He does not see?"
Whose light in Heaven is life,
Whose rest above our strife—
Whose bright sky overvaults earth's barren shade;
Who hearest all ere this weak prayer can rise,
Before whose viewless eyes
Unrolled and far the starry future lies;
Behold what men have done,
What is beneath thy sun—
What stains the sceptred hand, sin lifts to thee
In prayer-like mockery—
What binds the heart Thou madest to be free.
Since we are blind, give light—
Since we are feeble, smite—
How long shall man be scornful in thy sight,
"Fear not—He cares not, or He does not see?"
XIII
We keep our trust tho' all things fail us—
Tho' Time nor baffled Hope avail us,
We keep our faith—God liveth and is love.
Not one groan rises there
Tho' choked in dungeon air
But He has heard it though no thunders move—
And though no help is here,
No royal oath, no Austrian lie,
But echoes in the listening sky;
We keep our trust tho' all things fail us—
Tho' Time nor baffled Hope avail us,
We keep our faith—God liveth and is love.
Not one groan rises there
Tho' choked in dungeon air
But He has heard it though no thunders move—
And though no help is here,
No royal oath, no Austrian lie,
But echoes in the listening sky;
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