XXII
And like myself lone, wholly lone,
It sees the day's long sunshine glow;
And like myself it makes its moan
In unexhausted woe.
Give we the hills our equal prayer,
Earth's breezy hills and heaven's blue sea;
I ask for nothing further here
But my own heart and liberty.
Ah! could my hand unlock its chain,
How gladly would I with it soar;
And ne'er regret and ne'er complain
To see its shining eyes no more.
But let me think, that if to-day
It pines in cold captivity,
To-morrow both shall soar away,
Eternally, entirely free.
Methinks this heart should rest awhile,
So stilly round the evening falls;
The veiled sun shone no parting smile,
Nor mirth, nor music wakes my halls.
I have sat lonely all the day,
Watching the drizzly mist descend,
And first conceal the hills in grey,
And then along the valleys wend.
