The Abolitionist Hymn

 

We ask not that the slave should lie

as lies his master at his ease

beneath a silken canopy,

or in the shade of blooming trees.

 

We ask not "eye for eye" that all

who forge the chain and ply the whip

should feel their torture, while the thrall,

should wield the scourge of mastership.

 

We mourn not that the man should toil:

'tis Nature's need, 'tis God's decree;

but let the hand that tills the soil

be, like the wind that fans it, free.