Poetry · Chapter
Liberty explained
The chapter reflects on the concept of liberty, contrasting its grand proclamation with its youthful and unrealized nature, suggesting it is still unborn despite centuries of celebration.
What happens
The chapter reflects on the concept of liberty, contrasting its grand proclamation with its youthful and unrealized nature, suggesting it is still unborn despite centuries of celebration.
Themes in this chapter
Political Satire
Satirizes the patriotic fervor and the claim that liberty is uniquely tied to any one nation or language.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The narrator observes a patriot descending Bunker Hill and contemplates the nature of liberty.
Key passages
“Let there be Liberty!' God said, and, lo! The skies were red and luminous. The glow Struck first Columbia's kindling mountain peaks One hundred and eleven years ago!”
God commanded liberty, and it illuminated America's mountains 111 years ago.
The opening lines parody the biblical creation story to describe the birth of American liberty.
“Ah, Liberty, they sing you always young Whose harps are in your adoration strung (Each swears you are his countrywoman, too, And speak no language but his mother tongue.)”
People always praise liberty as eternally young, each claiming it belongs to their own nation and speaks only their language.
Critiques the universal but contradictory claims of national ownership over liberty.
“I cannot think you old—I think, indeed, You are by twenty centuries unborn.”
I believe liberty is not ancient but rather has yet to be born, even after two thousand years.
Suggests true liberty remains an unrealized ideal, despite centuries of human history.