LIBERTY
Liberty! - Who shall be free?-
The winds of the air, and the waves of the sea,
And the beast in his lair, and the bird on its tree,
And the savage who battles with boars and with bears
For the root that he grubs, or the flesh that he tears,-
Liberty, these are for thee!

Liberty! - How can it be
That reason, and duty, and science, and skill,
And order, and beauty, are lawgivers still,-
And yet that responsible Man can be found
Untrammell'd by rules, and by harness unbound?-
Liberty! No man is free.

Liberty! - sadness to see
Were the heart without love, or the mind without fear,
For the Father above, and His family here;
And Faith and Affection, constraining or fond,
What are they but chains, an invincible bond,
Liberty, manacling Thee!

Liberty! look not on me
With a Siren's smile on thy beautiful face,
And a treacherous wile in thy warm embrace;
No! let me feel fetter'd,- a martyr, a slave
To Honour and Duty from cradle to grave!
Liberty, I'll none of Thee.

Liberty! - 'fettered,' yet free:
For the chain that we wear is of roses and balm,
And the badge that we bear is The Conqueror's palm,
And the license we loathe is a freedom to Sin,
And the thraldom we love is Obedience within,
Liberty, leading to Thee!

Liberty! - for thou shalt be
My glorious reward in a happier clime,
From the hand of my Lord, who hath bound me to Time
As a bondsman here for a year and a day
To reign as a King for ever and aye,
Holy, and happy, and Free!

EQUALITY
Pining Envy's feeble hope,
Shipwreck's last despairing rope,
Idle wish from Satan sent,
Ruffian prize of Discontent,
Dull, debasing, sordid thing
Crushing down each generous spring,
Stern Procrustes' iron bed
To rack the feet or lop the head,-
Where in all life's social book
Shall your purblind statesman look,
Where,- Equality, to find
A sillier lie to cheat mankind?

Tell the truth, yea, tell it out,
Nature! without fear or doubt;
Tell it out that never yet
Have two utter equals met:
Leaves and fruits on every tree,
Fowls and fish of air and sea,
Stars on high with all their host,
Pebbles from a kingdom's coast;
Search them all, some difference still
Clings to each for good or ill;
Search the world - all worlds - around,
Perfect twins were never found;
Babes of various realm and race,
Men of every age and place,
Gifts of God, or wise denials,
Pleasures, sorrows, triumphs, trials,
All things differ everywhere,-
Never two can start quite fair,-
Never two could keep the start
In soul or body, mind or heart,
While the shortest winter's day
To its morrow gloom'd away!

Would then Vanity, and Sloth,
And Disappointment, scorning both,
And Pride and Meanness, hand in hand
With Crime and low Ambition stand
To scheme and plot a wholesome plan
Utterly to ruin Man,-
Then should they level love and hate,
And grind atoms all things great,
Corrupt all good, befoul all fair,
Make gladness weep, and hope despair,
And, impotent to raise the dead,
Kill the living in their stead,
By working out the poison'd lie
Your sages call Equality.

No! thou phantom false and fair,
Rainbow-castle in the air,
Fit enough for fays or elves,
But not for mortals like ourselves,
In this hive of human kind
Where some can see, and some are blind,
Where some will work though others play,
And many swear while many pray,
Where disease and age at length
Must bend and bow to manhood's strength,
Where every one of God's good gifts
The favour'd from his fellow lifts,-
Equal! - equal? - tush: the word
In truer letters spells Absurd.

Equal? there is One alone
Reigns Coequal on His throne;
Nor can any creature dare
With such Essence to compare.
All things else through change and chance,
And time and place and circumstance,
And partial Providence most just,
And man's 'I will,' and God's 'you must,'-
All things, differing each from each,
Vainly still their lesson teach,
If Equality be thus
Possible or wise for us,
Where with various means and powers
In a trial world like ours
We must work as best we may,
And leave it to The Judgement Day
To declare how ill or well
Earth's advantages may tell:
Then, shall equal meed be given
By the justice of High Heaven:
Then, shall compensation true
Set us all in places new:
And,- how many counted first
There shall stand the worst accurst!
And,- how many here so poor,-
Lazarus laid at Dives' door,-
There, instead of last and least,
First shall sit at Life's great feast!

FRATERNITY
Away, away, Suspicion!
And hail, thou generous heat;
With tears of just contrition
Let me wash my brothers' feet:
For I have sinn'd,- how often!
While Charity stood by
This stony heart to soften,
And melt this frozen eye!

Yes,- I have err'd, like others,
By coldness and constraint,
Forgetting we are brothers,
The sinner as the saint,-
All children of one Father,
All guilty and all weak,
And bound by these the rather
Each wanderer to seek!

Awake then! holy yearning
The hearts of men to thrill,-
Ascend! sweet incense burning
To warm the human will;
Oh let us dare with boldness
To burst this girdling chain
Of common social coldness,
And love as babes again!

In frankness, and in fairness,
Go forth and reap the earth,-
Its richness and its rareness,
Its more than money's-worth;
Go forth, and win from others
Their honour and their love,
By treating them as brothers,
And sons of God above!

For in that brighter Sequel
To which our beings tend
At last we shall be equal
In One Redeeming Friend!
And He, who made us brothers,
Our Lord, and Brother too,
Hath gone before the others
To prepare for them and you!

Thus then shall heirs of Heaven,
But not the slaves of sin,-
Forgiving and forgiven,
This holy triad win;
Free,- equal,- and fraternal,
In God's own way and time,
To live the life eternal,
And love the love sublime!