Blanche Taylor Dickinson, "Four Walls" (1927)
Four great walls have hemmed me in.
Four strong, high walls:
Right and wrong,
Shall and shan't.
The mighty pillars tremble when
My conscience palls
And sings its song---
I can, I can't.
If for a moment Samson's strength
Were given me I'd shove
Them away from where I stand;
Free, I know I'd love
To ramble soul and all,
And never dread to strike a wall.
Again, I wonder would that be
Such a happy state for me ...
The going, being, doing, sham---
And never knowing where I am.
I might not love freedom at all;
My tired wings might crave a wall---
Four walls to rise and pen me in
This conscious world with guarded men.
Published in Caroling Dusk, 1927