On the Castle of Chillon
by George Gordon, Lord Byron
- Eternal Spirit of the chainless Mind!
- Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art,
- For there thy habitation is the heart
- The heart which love of Thee alone can bind.
- And when thy sons to fetters are consignd,
- To fetters, and the damp vaults dayless gloom,
- Their country conquers with their martyrdom,
- And Freedoms fame finds wings on every wind.
- Chillon! thy prison is a holy place
- And thy sad floor an altar, for twas trod,
- Until his very steps have left a trace
- Worn as if thy cold pavement were a sod,
- By Bonnivard! May none those marks efface!
- For they appeal from tyranny to God.
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