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156
X.
ON A BUST OF WEBSTER.
There is a Roman grandeur in that brow,And lofty thoughts within it seem enshrined,
As calmly it expands before me now,
Nature's assurance of a noble mind;
A stern serenity broods o'er the face,
Most eloquent of a determined soul,
Will softened by the lines of mental grace,
Yet firm of purpose, strong in self-control:
How glorious the art that can subdue
The senseless marble to such forms of truth,
And mould the semblance of Earth's chosen few
To an enduring shape and second youth;
Bequeath his features, whose emphatic page
Will nerve the spirits of a future age!
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