“OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,For liberty that sighs;And never let thine heart be shutAgainst the prisoner's cries.”Anna Laetitia Barbauld The Mouse's PetitionThe Mouse's Petition (1773)
“If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,Let not thy strong oppressive forceA free-born mouse detain.”Anna Laetitia Barbauld The Mouse's PetitionThe Mouse's Petition (1773)
“So when unseen destruction lurks,Which men like mice may share,May some kind angel clear thy path,And break the hidden snare.”Anna Laetitia Barbauld The Mouse's PetitionThe Mouse's Petition (1773)
“The well-taught philosophic mindTo all compassion gives;Casts round the world an equal eye,And feels for all that lives.”Anna Laetitia Barbauld The Mouse's PetitionThe Mouse's Petition (1773)
“The chearful light, the vital air,Are blessings widely given;Let nature's commoners enjoyThe common gifts of heaven.”Anna Laetitia Barbauld The Mouse's PetitionThe Mouse's Petition (1773)
“If mind, as ancient sages taught,A never dying flame,Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,In every form the same,Beware, lest in the worm you crushA brother's soul you find;And tremble lest thy luckless handDislodge a kindred mind.”Anna Laetitia Barbauld The Mouse's PetitionThe Mouse's Petition (1773)
