All the fluttering wishes Caged within thy heart Beat their wings against it,Longing to depart,Till they shake their prison With their wounded cry;Open wide thy heart to-day,And let the captives fly.
Let them first fly upward Through the starry air,Till you almost lose them,For their home is there;Then,with outspread pinions,Circling round and round,Wing their way,wherever Want and woe are found.
Where the weary stitcher Toils for daily bread;Where the lonely watcher Watches by her dead;Where with thin weak fingers,Toiling at the loom,Stand the little children,Blighted ere they bloom.
Where,by darkness blinded,Groping for the light,With distorted conscience Men do wrong for right;Where,in the cold shadow,By smooth pleasure thrown,Human hearts by hundreds Harden into stone.
Where on dusty highways,With faint heart and slow,Cursing the glad sunlight,Hungry outcasts go:
Where all mirth is silenced,And the hearth is chill,For one place is empty,And one voice is still.
Some hearts will be lighter While your captives roam For their tender singing,Then recal them home;When the sunny hours Into night depart,Softly they will nestle In a quiet heart.
