We ask not that the slave should lie, <br />As lies his master, at his ease, <br />Beneath a silken canopy, <br />Or in the shade of blooming trees. <br /> <br /> <br />We mourn not that the man should toil; <br />'T is nature's need-'t is God's decree; <br />But, let the hand that tills the soil, <br />Be, like the wind that fans it, free. <br /> <br /> <br />We ask not 'eye for eye'-that all, <br />Who forge the chain and ply the whip, <br />Should feel their torture-that the thrall <br />Should wield the scourge of mastership- <br /> <br /> <br />We only ask, O God, that they, <br />Who bind a brother, may relent: <br />But, <br />Great Avenger <br />, we do pray <br />That the wrong-doer may repent.<br /><br />John Pierpont<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/prayer-of-the-abolitionist/
