Poems (Hornblower)/Sonnet, to the Advocates of Religious Liberty
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SONNET,
TO THE ADVOCATES OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
O fearless martyrs to the purest claim,
Freedom of conscience, and the rights of soul:
Undaunted by the despot's fierce control,
The wreck of life, of liberty, of fame,
How nobly did ye stand hi firm array,
When o'er you rushed the persecuting fire;
How calmly brave, repel the world's mad ire,
And your immortal panoply display.
Ye died in dungeons, poverty, and chains,
But high in spirit, with unshackled mind,
And in your deaths bequeathed to human kind
The heaven-free thought, which mortal bond disdains;
Oh! not in vain, through blood, and tears, and strife
Ye waged the combat for eternal life!
Freedom of conscience, and the rights of soul:
Undaunted by the despot's fierce control,
The wreck of life, of liberty, of fame,
How nobly did ye stand hi firm array,
When o'er you rushed the persecuting fire;
How calmly brave, repel the world's mad ire,
And your immortal panoply display.
Ye died in dungeons, poverty, and chains,
But high in spirit, with unshackled mind,
And in your deaths bequeathed to human kind
The heaven-free thought, which mortal bond disdains;
Oh! not in vain, through blood, and tears, and strife
Ye waged the combat for eternal life!