Aaron Belford Thompson, "The Chain of Bondage" (1899)
Arise! arise! my fellow-men,
Arise, with might and main;
Arise, with intellectual din,
And cast aside your chains!
For, like a web around us bound,
This chain hath long entwined;
It brought a mighty nation down,
And humbled low their minds.
How oft we're quelled when 'tempt to rise,
By envy and disdain;
And ofttimes wipe our tearful eyes,
And try no more our chains.
Oh! tear them loose in union's strength!
We'll not be trampled down;
We'll reach the promise land at length,
Behold the Ethiope's crown!
Published in Morning Songs, 1899