George Washington Clark

“ I have long desired to see these sentiments of love, of sympathy, of justice and humanity, so beautifully expressed in poetic measure, embalmed in sweet music; so that all the people—the rich, the poor, the young, and the old, who have hearts to feel, and tongues to move, may sing of the wrongs of slavery, and the blessings of liberty, until every human being shall recognise in his fellow an equal;—"a man and a brother." Until by familiarity with these sentiments, and their influence upon their hearts, the people, whose duty it is, shall "undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free." ”

“ But the grief of that mother can never be known.
[Pg 33] The mildew of slavery has blighted each blossom,
That ever has bloomed in her pathway below;
It has froze every fountain that gushed in her bosom,
And chilled her heart's verdure with pitiless woe:
Her parents, her kindred, all crushed by oppression;
Her husband still doomed in its desert to stay;
No arm to protect from the tyrant's aggression—
She must weep as she treads on her desolate way.
O, slave-mother, hope! see—the nation is shaking!
The arm of the Lord is awake to thy wrong! ”

“ Our true hearted freemen maintain the right,
And the monster oppression is dying,
And the monster oppression is dying:
And if you ask what you there behold?
'Tis the army of freemen, the true and the bold.
Too long have slave-holders triumphantly reigned,
Too long in their chains have they bound us;
To freedom awaking, no longer enchained,
The goddess of freedom has saved us,
The goddess of freedom has saved us:
And if you ask what has made us free?
'Tis the vote that gave us our liberty.
Holy Freedom. BY PIERPONT.
The bondmen are free in the isles of the main! ”

“ Comfort to the mourning slave;
God has heard him long complaining,
And extends his arm to save;
Proud Oppression
Soon shall find a shameful grave.
See! the light of truth is breaking,
Full and clear on ev'ry hand;
And the voice of mercy, speaking,
Now is heard through all the land;
Firm and fearless,
See the friends of Freedom stand!
Lo! the nation is arousing
From its slumbers, long and deep;
And the church of God is waking,
Never, never more to sleep,
While a bondman,
In his chains remains to weep.
Long, too long, have we been dreaming,
O'er our country's sin and shame ”

“ No hand shall furl her banner ere her victory be won!
Our shields are locked for liberty, and mercy goes before:
Tyrants tremble in your citadel! oppression shall be o'er.
We will vote for Birney,
We will vote for Birney,
We're for Morris and for Birney,
And for Freedom through the land.
We have hatred, dark and deep, for the fetter and the thong;
We bring light for prisoned spirits, for the captive's wail a song;
We are coming, we are coming! and, "No league with tyrant man,"
Is emblazoned on our banner, while Jehovah leads the van! ”

“ Then on to the conflict for freedom and truth;
Come Matron, come Maiden, come Manhood and youth,
Come gather! come gather! come one and come all,
And soon shall the altars of Slavery fall.
The forests shall know it, and lift up their voice,
To bid the green prairies and valleys rejoice;
And the "Father of Waters," join Mexico's sea,
In the anthem of Nature for millions set free.
Then huzza! then huzza!
Truth's glittering falchion for freedom we draw.
Be kind to each other. BY CHARLES SWAIN.
Be kind to each other! ”

“ Nor binds in chains and fetters,
The image of his God;
No vassal, at his bidding,
Is doomed the lash to feel;
No menial crouches near him,
No Charley's [3] at his heel.
His heart is free from murder,
His hand without its stain;
His head and heart united,
To loose the bondman's chain:
His deeds of noble daring,
Shall make the tyrant cower;
Oppression flees before him,
With all its boasted power.
Soon shall the voice of freedom,
O'er earth its echoes roll—
And earth's rejoicing millions
Be free, from pole to pole.
Then rally round your leader,
Ye friends of liberty ”

“ Who for freedom fought and bled,
With her banner o'er you spread,
On to victory.
Not for stern ambition's prize,
Do our hopes and wishes rise;
Lo, our leader from the skies,
Bids us do or die.
Ours is not the tented field—
We no earthly weapons wield—
Light and love, our sword and shield,
Truth our panoply.
This is proud oppression's hour;
Storms are round us; shall we cower?
While beneath a despot's power
Groans the suffering slave? ”

“ Is the yoke of the oppressor;
Dark o'er the soul is the fell control
Of the stern and dread transgressor.
Chorus.
Oh then come all to bring the thrall
Up from his deep despairing,
And out of the jaw of the bandit's law,
Retake the prey he's tearing:
O then come all to bring the thrall
Up from his deep despairing,
And out of the jaw of the bandit's law,
Retake the prey he's tearing.
Brothers be brave for the pining slave,
From his wife and children riven;
From every vale their bitter wail
Goes sounding up to Heaven. ”

“ If there breathe on earth a slave,
Are ye truly free and brave?
Are ye not base slaves indeed,
Men unworthy to be freed?
If ye do not feel the chain,
When it works a brother's pain?
Women! who shall one day bear
Sons to breathe God's bounteous air,
If ye hear without a blush,
Deeds to make the roused blood rush
Like red lava through your veins,
For your sisters now in chains;
Answer! are ye fit to be
Mothers of the brave and free? [Pg 127]
Is true freedom but to break
Fetters for our own dear sake,
And, with leathern hearts forget
That we owe mankind a debt? ”

“ Hearts are waking, chains are breaking,
Freedom bids her sons prepare:
O'er the ocean, in proud devotion,
Incense rises to the skies;
From our mountains, o'er our fountains,
See, our Eagle proudly flies!
What deploring impedes his soaring?
Millions still in bondage sighing!
Long in deep oppression lying!
Shall their story mar our glory?
Must their life in sorrow flow?
Tears are falling! fetters galling!
Listen to the cry of woe!
Still oppressing! never blessing!
Shall their grief no ending know?
Yes! our nation yet shall feel;
Time shall break the chain of steel ”

“ Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of great merit, who [Pg iv] was for many years deprived of liberty, and subjected to severe trials and misfortunes by the jealousy and cruelty of his patron, the Duke of Ferrara. That master-piece of music, so justly admired and so much sung by the high and low throughout all Italy, had its origin in the wrongs of Tasso. An ardent love of humanity—a deep consciousness of the injustice of slavery—a heart full of sympathy for the oppressed, and a due appreciation of the blessings of freedom, has given birth to the poetry comprising this volume. ”

“ The ballot-box is Freedom's shield,
Arise! arise! arise! [Pg 129]
Unite, and strike for equal laws,
Unite! unite! unite!
For equal Justice! that's our cause
Unite! unite! unite!
Shall the vile slavites win the day?
Shall men of whips and blood bear sway?
Unite, and dash their chains away,
Unite! unite! unite!
March on! and vote the hireling down,
March on! march on! march on!
Our blighted land with blessings crown,
March on! march on! march on!
Shall Manhood ever wear the chain?
Shall Freedom look to us in vain? ”

“ His tender limbs in chains confined,
I saw him o'er the billows borne,
And marked his agony of mind;
But still to gain this simple toy,
I gave the weeping Negro Boy.
In isles that deck the western wave
I doomed the hapless youth to dwell,
A poor, forlorn, insulted slave!
A beast that christians buy and sell!
And in their cruel tasks employ
The much-enduring Negro Boy.
His wretched parents long shall mourn,
Shall long explore the distant main
In hope to see the youth return;
But all their hopes and sighs are vain:
They never shall the sight enjoy,
Of their lamented Negro Boy. ”

“ And who is not moved by music? "Who ever despises music," says Martin Luther, "I am displeased with him."
'There is a charm—a power that sways the breast,
Bids every passion revel, or be still;
Inspires with rage, or all our cares dissolves;
Can soothe destruction, and almost soothes despair.'
That music is capable of accomplishing vast good, and that it is a source of the most elevated and refined enjoyment when rightly cultivated and practiced, no one who understands its power or has observed its effects, will for a moment deny. ”

“ O ne'er give o'er till the chains no more
Around their limbs are twining.
Gloomy and damp is the low rice swamp,
Where their meagre bands are wasting;
All worn and weak, in vain they seek
For rest, to the cool shade hasting;
For drivers fell, like fiends from hell,
Cease not their savage shouting;
And the scourge's crack, from quivering back,
Sends up the red blood spouting.
Into the grave looks only the slave,
For rest to his limbs aweary ”

“ How long will the friend of the slave plead in vain?
How long e'er the Christian will loosen the chain?
If he, by our efforts, more hardened should be,
O Father, forgive him! we trust but in thee.
That 'we're all free and equal,' how senseless the cry,
While millions in bondage are groaning so nigh!
O where is our freedom? equality where? ”

“ Six slave States added at a breath! One flourish of a pen,
And fetters shall be riveted on millions more of men!
One drop of ink to sign a name, and slavery shall find
For all her surplus flesh and blood, a market to her mind!
A market where good Democrats their fellow men may sell!
O, what a grin of fiendish glee runs round and round thro' hell! ”

“ Whilst they the oppressors of millions could be.
They can feel for themselves, for the Pole they can feel,
Towards Afric's children their hearts are like steel;
They are deaf to their call, to their wrongs they are blind;
In error they slumber nor seek truth to find.
Though scorn and oppression on our pathway attend,
Despised and reviled, we the slave will befriend ”

“ To think men take such pains to claim the notice of God's ire.
Is't not enough that we have borne the sneer of all the world,
And bent to those whose haughty lips in scorn of us are curled?
Is't not enough that we must hunt their living chattels back,
And cheer the hungry bloodhounds on, that howl upon their track?
Is't not enough that we must bow to all that they decree,—
These cotton and tobacco lords, these pimps of slavery?
[Pg 72] That we must yield our conscience up to glut Oppression's maw,
And break our faith with God to keep the letter of Man's law? ”

“ TUNE:—"The Pirate's Glee."
March on! march on, ye friends of freedom for all,
For truth and right contend;
Be ever ready at humanity's call,
Till tyrant's power shall end.
The proud slave-holders rule the nation,
The people's groans are loud and long ”

“ To rescue the slave from the tyrant's hand;
And our prayers shall ascend with our songs to Him
Who sits in the midst of the cherubim.
We are come, all come, in the strength of youth,
In the light of hope and the power of truth;
And we joy to see in our ranks to-day,
The honored locks of the good and grey.
We are come, all come, in our holy might,
And freedom's foes shall be put to flight;
Oh God! with favoring smiles from thee,
Our songs shall soon chant the victory.
[Pg 100]
THE LAW OF LOVE. Words by a Lady. Music by G.W.C.
[Listen] [PDF] [Lilypond] ”

“ No! true freedom is to share
All the chains our brothers wear,
And with hand and heart to be
Earnest to make others free.
They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak;
They are slaves, who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than, in silence, shrink
From the truth they needs must think ”

“ Old Plymouth rock, and Lexington, and glorious Bunker Hill?
The debt we owe our Father's graves? and to the yet unborn,
Whose heritage ourselves must make a thing of pride or scorn?
Grey Plymouth rock hath yet a tongue, and Concord is not dumb,
And voices from our father's graves, and from the future come;
They call on us to stand our ground, they charge us still to be
Not only free from chains ourselves, but foremost to make free!
Awake, New England! While you sleep the foes advance their lines;
Already on your stronghold's wall their bloody banner shines ”

“ Arise and cast back the dark wealth of her curls,
With a scorn in her eye which the gazer could feel,
And a glance like the sunshine that flashes on steel!
"Go back, haughty Southron! thy treasures of gold
Are dim with the blood of the hearts thou hast sold!
Thy home may be lovely, but round it I hear
The crack of the whip and the footsteps of fear!
"And the sky of thy South may be brighter than ours,
And greener thy landscapes, and fairer thy flowers ”

“ The haughty and rich to the humble and poor?
'Tis the great Southern planter—the master who waves
His whip of dominion o'er hundreds of slaves.
"Nay, Ellen—for shame! Let those Yankee fools spin,
Who would pass for our slaves with a change of their skin;
Let them toil as they will at the loom or the wheel,
Too stupid for shame, and too vulgar to feel!
"But thou art too lovely and precious a gem
To be bound to their burdens and sullied by them—
For shame, Ellen, shame!—cast thy bondage aside,
And away to the South, as my blessing and pride. ”

“ Let associations of singers, having the love of liberty in their hearts, be immediately formed in every community. Let them study thoroughly, and make themselves perfectly familiar with both the poetry and the music, and enter into the sentiment of the piece they perform, that they may impress it upon their hearers. ”

“ Afric's bleeding sons and daughters,
Now before us, loud implore us,
Looking to Jehovah's throne,
Chains are wearing, hearts despairing,
Will ye hear a nation's moan?
Soothe their sorrow, ere the morrow
Change their aching hearts to stone:
Then the light of nature's smile
Freedom's realm shall bless the while ”