The Freed Land

This poem was written by Ellen Murray, a co-founder of the Penn School on St. Helena Island in South Carolina. The poem was originally published in the National Anti-Slavery Standard on August 13,1864.

The land is cleansed! Where'er the sin had left
A footprint or a trace,
Repentant tears rain down upon the dust
And every stain efface.
Open beneath God’s look the records lie,
Nor need we blush or fear
To turn their leaves, from which the wrong is crossed,
Beneath His sunshine clear.

In the hot fire of indignant love
All fetters melt and fall,
The least we ask from country and from law
Is Liberty for all.
The ancient prejudice has cowered back
Beneath the patriot’s blame;
To all who love our country and our flag
We give a brother’s name.

Is more atonement needed? We can give
More yet of precious blood, whose worth and price
No words have ever told.
So that our land be cleansed, be pure, be true,
Be righteous in God’s sight,
We place no bound, hold back no sacrifice,
Nor shun e’en ruin’s night.

Our land is cleansed! Thank God forevermore!
Angles may walk thereon,
Nor stain their robes against a rusty chain,
Nor hush their orison.
And if the graves are thick about their way,
They'd call them shrines for prayer,
Nor turn aside from e’en our battle-fields,
For true hands conquer there.
Ellen Murray