Sonnet To Liberty Poem by Oscar Wilde

Sonnet To Liberty

Rating: 2.5


NOT that I love thy children, whose dull eyes
See nothing save their own unlovely woe,
Whose minds know nothing, nothing care to know,--
But that the roar of thy Democracies,
Thy reigns of Terror, thy great Anarchies,
Mirror my wildest passions like the sea,--
And give my rage a brother----! Liberty!
For this sake only do thy dissonant cries
Delight my discreet soul, else might all kings
By bloody knout or treacherous cannonades
Rob nations of their rights inviolate
And I remain unmoved--and yet, and yet,
These Christs that die upon the barricades,
God knows it I am with them, in some things.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Michael Walker 08 August 2020

I feel the same way about children; like the difference between a primary school class and one of young adults. Children can be boring.The meaning of the sonnet is not so clear as it advances, however. He prizes Liberty above all else, yet he remains unmoved 'and yet, and yet, '. He is like the victims on the barricades only in some things. Intriguing.

0 0 Reply
despacito 05 June 2018

A powerful poem... forcefully written

2 0 Reply
Amar Agarwala 21 August 2016

A powerful poem... forcefully written.

0 3 Reply
Edward Kofi Louis 21 August 2016

Unlovely woe! ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

2 2 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

Dublin / Ireland
Close
Error Success