Be just at home; then write your scroll Of honor o'er the sea, And bid the broad Atlantic roll, A ferry of the free. And henceforth there shall be no chain, Save underneath the sea The wires shall murmur through the main The conscious stars accord above, The waters wild below, And under, through the cable wove, For He that worketh high and wise, Will take the sun out of the skies, Ere freedom out of man. RALPH WALDO EMERSON. New World and Old Glory Stanzas on Freedom Is true Freedom but to break New World and Old Glory And, with heart and hand, to be They are slaves who fear to speak They are slaves who will not choose Rather than in silence shrink From the truth they needs must think; JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL. Abraham Lincoln This man whose homely face you look upon, won; Direct of speech, and cunning with the pen. Chosen for large designs, he had the art Of winning with his humor, and he went Straight to his mark, which was the human heart; Wise, too, for what he could not break he bent. Upon his back a more than Atlas-load, The burden of the Commonwealth, was laid; He stooped, and rose up to it, though the road Shot suddenly downwards, not a whit dismayed. Hold, warriors, councillors, kings! All now give New place To this dear benefactor of the race. RICHARD HENRY STODDARD. World and Old Glory Lincoln the Great Commoner When the Norn-Mother saw the Whirlwind Hour, A man that matched the mountains and com- The stars to look our way and honor us. The color of the ground was in him, the red The tang and odor of the primal things, The gladness of the wind that shakes the corn; The courage of the bird that dares the sea; The justice of the rain that loves all leaves; New The loving kindness of the wayside well; World The tolerance and equity of light and Old Glory That gives as freely to the shrinking weed And so he came, From prairie cabin to the Capitol, blow, The conscience of him testing every stroke, So came the Captain with the mighty heart; Abraham Lincoln (Summer, 1865.) Dead is the roll of the drums, Like the smile of Him on high. How the tall white daisies grow, Where the grim artillery rolled! (Was it only a moon ago? It seems a century old,)— And the bee hums in the clover, But our good Father is gone. There was tumbling of traitor fort, Lighting of city and port, Clasping in square and street. There was thunder of mine and gun, When his dread work all done, And his high fame full won Died the Good President. |