Skip to content
Linespedia

Freedom

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Topics: classic

Once I wished I might rehearse     Freedom's paean in my verse,     That the slave who caught the strain     Should throb until he snapped his chain,     But the Spirit said, 'Not so;     Speak it not, or speak it low;     Name not lightly to be said,     Gift too precious to be prayed,     Passion not to be expressed     But by heaving of the breast:     Yet,--wouldst thou the mountain find     Where this deity is shrined,     Who gives to seas and sunset skies     Their unspent beauty of surprise,     And, when it lists him, waken can     Brute or savage into man;     Or, if in thy heart he shine,     Blends the starry fates with thine,     Draws angels nigh to dwell with thee,     And makes thy thoughts archangels be;     Freedom's secret wilt thou know?--     Counsel not with flesh and blood;     Loiter not for cloak or food;     Right thou feelest, rush to do.'

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"Once I wished I might rehearse..."

This evocative piece by Ralph Waldo Emerson, titled "Freedom", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Once I wished I might rehearse..." by Ralph Waldo Emerson

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"One musician is sure,     His wisdom will not fail,     He has not tasted wine impure,     Nor bent to passion frail.     Age cannot cloud his"

"With beams December planets dart     His cold eye truth and conduct scanned,     July was in his sunny heart,     October in his liberal hand."

"Shines the last age, the next with hope is seen,     To-day slinks poorly off unmarked between:     Future or Past no richer secret folds,"

"Nature centres into balls,     And her proud ephemerals,     Fast to surface and outside,     Scan the profile of the sphere;     Knew they wh"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet who led the Transcendentalist movement. His poems—including "Brahma," "The Rhodora," and "Concord Hymn"—explore nature, self-reliance, and the oversoul.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"One musician is sure,     His wisdom will not fail..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.