University of Virginia Library

The Noble Aim.

He was a youth of promise,
With ambition fired breast;
Marathon, nor Salamis,
Ne'er produced a prouder crest.
Up the rugged steeps of learning,
With a giant's steps he strode:
Keen, earnest, and discerning,
O'er all obstacles he rode.
He had tallents rare and varied,
With a broad and grasping mind
In his researches unwearied—
Loving all of human kind.
He could laugh and shout as loudly,
As his comrades on the plain;
He could set a steed as proudly,
And could hold as firm a rein;
He could hop and bound as agile,
And could bat as good a ball;
He could fashion toys as fragile,
As the first among them all;
He had hopes as high—ambition,
And he had as high an aim,
With a promise as propitious,
To be stamped with future fame.
But ah! his brow was sable,
And his features broad and bold;—
These far mightier to disable
Than the want of potent gold,
Bowed his noble, manly spirit,
To the verge of dark despair;—
He had won a nobler merit,
By his tallents bright and rare.
He was spurned, despised, and hated.
As a leper by his kind;
But their shafts tho' unabated,
Fell beneath his noble mind.
You may close the gates of power,
With a clangor in his face;—
You may throw a poisoned shower,
Of cold hatred on his race;
You may insult—may dishonor,
And deny to him a name;
But posterity will honor,
The youth of noble aim.