TO WILLIAM E. CHANNING by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The pages of thy book I read, And as I closed each one, My heart, responding, ever said, "Servant of God! well done!"
Well done! Thy words are great and bold; At times they seem to me, Like Luther's, in the days of old, Half-battles for the free.
Go on, until this land revokes The old and chartered Lie, The feudal curse, whose whips and yokes Insult humanity.
A voice is ever at thy side Speaking in tones of might, Like the prophetic voice, that cried To John in Patmos, "Write!"
Write! and tell out this bloody tale; Record this dire eclipse, This Day of Wrath, this Endless Wail, This dread Apocalypse!
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