Through Chains That Drag Us Downward

So, it must be true
 Few are worthy of its weight
 Few are meant to know
 What the ancients knew
 And fewer, still
 Still dare to test their will
 So few possess the strength
 Timid and tame, but I
 Glory would return this race to its former glory
 I, I have seen the crumbling face of our gilded past
 Wind-worn monuments, of a more glorious age
 Mock us with their unchang'd stare
 How can we know what wonders came before us?
 I, I long to feel that power which lies dormant in our blood
 As they assembled, this gleaming precipice
 Reaching high, above the clouds
 How many lifetimes would I waste
 Trying to reach its top
 Clutching its edges, higher still
 Grasping at the hair-like roots
 That grow out from the cracks
 Only to swipe through the open air
 And fall again and again
 What sort of creature am I?
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 So I bear this burden
 I suffer and I grow
 I grow in vision and in fortitude
 With the fire that is my soul
 I'll teach the world to speak in truer tongues
 To ever strive for better days
 I'll let the visage of this mangled form
 (Teach the world to strive for better days) Teach me the value of each day
 To spend the full force of our energies advancing
 Towards a new and glorious morning—
 The genuine life full of vibrancy and meaning—
 This shall be our aim
 So let us marshall our motivations
 To align with such a high and worthy cause
 Let us set new declarations
 And discipline in our lives
 Let the value of freedom run
 Through every crevice in our minds
 Through every thought and every action that we choose
 Through every monument we erect
 Through the long days and long marches
 That lead to our highest selves and contributions
 Through all the hopeful dreams
 Born from a liberated soul