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 | The Poetical Works of James Madison Bell |  |
With one allusion, we have done
The task so joyously begun:
It is to speak, in measured lays,
Of him the Nation loves to praise.
The task so joyously begun:
It is to speak, in measured lays,
Of him the Nation loves to praise.
When that inspired instrument,
The subject of this great event,
Forth from the Halls of Congress came,
With even justice as its aim,
'Twas deem'd by some a fiendish rod,
But otherwise adjudged of God,
Who, turning earthward from His throne,
Beheld great Lincoln all alone,
With earth-bent brow, in pensive mood,
Pondering o'er some unsubdued
And knotty problem, half dissolved,
And half in mystery yet involved.
The subject of this great event,
Forth from the Halls of Congress came,
With even justice as its aim,
'Twas deem'd by some a fiendish rod,
But otherwise adjudged of God,
Who, turning earthward from His throne,
Beheld great Lincoln all alone,
With earth-bent brow, in pensive mood,
Pondering o'er some unsubdued
And knotty problem, half dissolved,
And half in mystery yet involved.
The interest of a continent,
All broken up by discontent—
His own dear land, land of his love,
The fairest 'neath the realms above—
Weighed down his form and rack'd his brain,
And filled his patriot heart with pain.
But when his mind conceived the thought
To write four million captives free!
An angel to his conscience brought
Approving smiles of Deity;
And ere he had with flesh conferr'd,
He gave the bright conception birth,
And distant nations saw and heard,
And bless'd his mission on the earth.
All broken up by discontent—
His own dear land, land of his love,
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Weighed down his form and rack'd his brain,
And filled his patriot heart with pain.
But when his mind conceived the thought
To write four million captives free!
An angel to his conscience brought
Approving smiles of Deity;
And ere he had with flesh conferr'd,
He gave the bright conception birth,
And distant nations saw and heard,
And bless'd his mission on the earth.
And we today reiterate,
With warmth of heart and depth of soul,
God bless Americ's Magistrate!
Long may he live to guide, control;
Long may that arching brow and high—
That spiritual and piercing eye:
That tall, majestic, manly form—
Live, our rainbow 'midst the storm;
And when the roar of battle's pass'd;
When vain Secession's breath'd his last;
When peace and order are restored,
And Freedom sits at every board;
And when the Nation shall convene
In mass, as ne'er before was seen,
And render eulogistic meeds
To worthy heroes' noble deeds,
A lengthened train shall claim their boast,
But Lincoln's name shall lead the host!
His name shall grow a household word,
Where'er the human voice is heard;
And tribes and peoples yet unborn,
Shall hail and bless his natal morn.
With warmth of heart and depth of soul,
God bless Americ's Magistrate!
Long may he live to guide, control;
Long may that arching brow and high—
That spiritual and piercing eye:
That tall, majestic, manly form—
Live, our rainbow 'midst the storm;
And when the roar of battle's pass'd;
When vain Secession's breath'd his last;
When peace and order are restored,
And Freedom sits at every board;
And when the Nation shall convene
In mass, as ne'er before was seen,
And render eulogistic meeds
To worthy heroes' noble deeds,
A lengthened train shall claim their boast,
But Lincoln's name shall lead the host!
His name shall grow a household word,
Where'er the human voice is heard;
And tribes and peoples yet unborn,
Shall hail and bless his natal morn.
| The Poetical Works of James Madison Bell | |