 | The Josephine Gallery |  |
256
MADAME DE STAËL.
Alive, thy country's highest Power
Still honored, while he feared thy name;
Dead, thou hast left a princely dower
To nations, who will guard thy fame.
Still honored, while he feared thy name;
Dead, thou hast left a princely dower
To nations, who will guard thy fame.
Such a proud gift as he who lives
For human glory only knows—
A wealth that grows by what it gives,
Increasing when it most bestows.
For human glory only knows—
A wealth that grows by what it gives,
Increasing when it most bestows.
A power, that though his work be done,
Who kindles first its beacon light,
Widens and brightens, shining on
Down through the ages from its height.
Who kindles first its beacon light,
Widens and brightens, shining on
Down through the ages from its height.
Such power, such gift, such light was thine,
O woman of unequalled mind;
And thy great legacy has been,
Not for thy country, but mankind.
O woman of unequalled mind;
And thy great legacy has been,
Not for thy country, but mankind.
257
Until a proud posterity,
Whose heart remembers to admire,
Beats its responses back to thee,
And kindles at thy words of fire.
Whose heart remembers to admire,
Beats its responses back to thee,
And kindles at thy words of fire.
And if a name the world admires,
And honors with but one accord,
Can satisfy the soul's desires,
Thou surely hast a great reward.
And honors with but one accord,
Can satisfy the soul's desires,
Thou surely hast a great reward.
Yet well might thy reward be great,
For Justice, with her stern demands,
For every good, or soon or late,
Asks for her payment at our hands.
For Justice, with her stern demands,
For every good, or soon or late,
Asks for her payment at our hands.
This was the price she claimed of thee,
This heavy sentence, signed and sealed—
“Banishment, during life, to be
Neither commuted, nor repealed.”
This heavy sentence, signed and sealed—
“Banishment, during life, to be
Neither commuted, nor repealed.”
Friends, country, love itself, was lost,
Leaving thee nothing but thy fame,
Alas! how terrible the cost,
For the poor purchase of a name!
Leaving thee nothing but thy fame,
Alas! how terrible the cost,
For the poor purchase of a name!
What human soul for this would part
With all the human soul can prize?
What woman, with a woman's heart,
Would take it at the sacrifice?
With all the human soul can prize?
What woman, with a woman's heart,
Would take it at the sacrifice?
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