The blue sky arching overhead,
The green turf ’neath my daily tread,
All glorified by freedom’s light,
Grow fair and lovely to my sight.
The very winds that sweep along
Seemed burdened with a lovely song,
Nor shrieks nor groans of grief or fear,
Float on their wings and pain my ear.
No more with dull and aching breast,
Roused by the horn—I rise from rest
Content and cheerful with my lot,
I greet the sun and leave my cot.
For darling child and loving wife
I toil with newly waken’d life;
The light that lingers round her smile
The shadows from my soul beguile.
The pratile of my darling boy
Fills my old heart with untold joy;
Before his laughter, mirth and song
Fade out long scores of grief and wrong.
Oh, never did the world appear
So lovely to my eye and ear,
’Till Freedom came, with Joy and Peace,
And bade my hateful bondage cease!