VOICE of a people suffering long, <br />The pathos of their mournful song, <br />The sorrow of their night of wrong! <br />Their cry like that which Israel gave, <br />A prayer for one to guide and save, <br />Like Moses by the Red Sea's wave! <br />The Stern accord her timbrel lent <br />To Miriam's note of triumph sent <br />O'er Egypt's sunken armament! <br />The tramp that startled camp and town, <br />And shook the walls of slavery down, <br />The spectral march of old John Brown! <br />The storm that swept through battle-days, <br />The triumph after long delays, <br />The bondmen giving God the praise! <br />Voice of a ransomed race, sing on <br />Till Freedom's every right is won, <br />And slavery's every wrong undone!<br /><br />John Greenleaf Whittier<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-jubilee-singers/
