Unbranded by a bondman's name!
And struggling still, for nobler goal,
With wakening will and soaring soul,
I know not why his great free strength
May not be our best wealth at length:
That strength which, in the limbs of slaves—
Like Egypt's—only piles up graves!
But in the hands of freemen now
May build up states, by axe and plough!—
And rear up souls, as purely white