Sonnet XVI "Cages"

We num'rous few are trapped alone,
Each prisn'er with a chain unique,
By ancient laws on dated stone
That withhold from us what we seek.
The one allowed is bound himself,
For what is freedom when but sole?
The next is caught and loses self
Assuming now a forcèd role.
And yet one more sees horrors pass,
And stilled by fear lives out a lie,
Lest he too become second class
For reasons none can fathom why.
When one can neither fight nor flee,
The pain is forged to poetry.