Lord Byron , "Sonnet on Chillon," (c. 1816)
Transcribed from page 138 of the 1837 John Murray edition of Byron's Works.
SONNET ON CHILLON.
- 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 consign'd—
- To fetters, and the damp vault's dayless gloom,
- Their country conquers with their martyrdom,
- And Freedom's fame finds wings on every wind.
- Chillon! thy prison is a holy place,
- And thy sad floor an altar—for 't was rod,
- 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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