I am a freeman! ’Tis my boast and my pride,
I am a freeman! True freedom is mine;
I slay when I choose, yet spare when I will;
For my food use the bullet, or cast out the line,
But never, like fools, from wantonness kill.
My “roof-tree” is lofty, my dining-hall wide—
I am a freeman! ’Tis my boast and my pride.
The eagle above me soars lofty and free,
He knows that I’ll speed no bullet at him—
He is game for a tyrant, but never for me,