| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1028. Bondage |
| | | By Lucy White Jennison (“Owen Innsley”) |
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| “AND this is freedom!” cried the serf; “At last | |
| I tread free soil, the free air blows on me;” | |
| And, wild to learn the sweets of liberty, | |
| With eager hope his bosom bounded fast. | |
| But not for naught had the long years amassed | 5 |
| Habit of slavery; among the free | |
| He still was servile, and, disheartened, he | |
| Crept back to the old bondage of the past. | |
| Long did I bear a hard and heavy chain | |
| Wreathëd with amaranth and asphodel, | 10 |
| But through the flower-breaths stole the weary pain. | |
| I cast it off and fled, but ’t was in vain; | |
| For when once more I passed by where it fell, | |
| I took it up and bound it on again. | |
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