Page:Pieces People Ask For.djvu/152

34 Ha! the iron bars are loosening!
 * So! gently on the floor!

I am mad for yon shifting sea, Frantic I'll spring to liberty!
 * Now! there goes one bar more!

Another! And now I'm free! I'm free! Wide is my path to liberty;
 * For a sailor's foot and hand

Make light of castle-wall, In its rugged fall
 * To the golden strand.

Down! down! down! Beneath the castle's frown!
 * Surely, I fell!

For blood is flowing, and wounds are wide: I know it, I know it, 'tis life's full tide,
 * In crimson swell!

The boat is empty, I lie on the sand, Far from those bells of my own dear land! I am dying, alone, but free! Out in God's glorious sun and light, Loyal in heart, and true in hand, To the royal flag of my native land!
 * Dying, ,
 * By the solemn sea!

Mother, good-night!

it up to the garret? Well, no, what's the harm, If it hangs like a horseshoe to serve as a charm? Had its day? to be sure. Matches ill with things here! Shall I sack the old friend just because it is queer? Thing of beauty 'tis not; but a joy none the less, As my hot lips remember its old-time caress, And I think on the solace once gurgling between My lips from that old battered tin canteen.