To me the sky looks bluer, 
And the green grass greener still, 
And earth's flowers seem more lovely 
As they bloom on heath and hill. 
There's a beauty breathing round me 
Like a newborn Eden now, 
And forgotten are the furrows 
Grief has graven on my brow. 
There is gladness in the sunshine, 
As its gold light gilds the trees, 
And I hear a voice of music 
Singing to me in the breeze. 
There is in my heart a lightness 
That seemeth not of me, 
For today I've burst from bondage, 
And I feel that I am free. 

Free in the golden sunshine, 
Free in the fresh pure air, 
Where the flowers of the forest 
In their wild homes flourish fair.
Free to thought to give expression, 
To sing, to dance, and show 
That the stern world has not crushed me 
With its weary weight of woe. 
Are the years of care and sorrow 
But a dark dream of the past, 
Or this new life but a vision 
That is all too bright to last? 
How exaltingly my spirit 
Flashes forth its newborn glee, 
As amid rejoicing nature 
I can feel that I am free.

I have neither friend nor loved one 
To welcome me, nor home;
And lonely through the wide world 
As a stranger I must roam;
I know not where tomorrow 
To procure my daily bread, 
And tonight the waving branches 
Must canopy my head. 
But if I had a palace, 
If of friends a gladsome throng, 
If some darling one were near me 
To cheer with love and song, 
If I'd riches which were boundless, 
No more joyous could I be 
Than what I am, exulting 
In the thought that I am free. 

Free in the bright glad sunshine, 
Free in the fresh pure air, 
My heart with gladness throbbing, 
And on my brow no care. 
There's the blue sky all above me - 
Not a prison roof between - 
And at my feet the flowers 
Nestle in the verdure green. 

Hark! I hear the breezes singing - 
'Lift thy heart to God on high, 
Who hath brought theee back from sorrow
To this world of hope and joy.' 
And the little nodding flowers 
In a chorus sing to me - 
'If God from sin shall free thee,
Then thou shalt indeed be free!'