University of Virginia Library

[VI. O, not for thee we weep;—we weep]

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Written for the Funeral Service in Commemoration of the Life and Character of Charles Follen, before the Massachussetts Anti-Slavery Society, April 17th, 1840.

O, not for thee we weep;—we weep
For her, whose lone and long caress,
And widow's tears, from fountains deep,
Fall on the early fatherless.

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'T is for ourselves we mourn;—we mourn
Our blighted hopes, our wishes crossed,
Thy strength, that hath our burdens borne,
Thy love, thy smile, thy counsels lost.
'T is for the slave we sigh;—we sigh
To think thou sleepest on a shore
Where thy calm voice and beaming eye
Shall plead the bondman's cause no more.
'T is for our land we grieve;—we grieve
That Freedom's fane, Devotion's shrine,
And Faith's fresh altar, thou shouldst leave,
And they all lose a soul like thine.
A soul like thine,—so true a soul,
Wife, friends, our land, the world, must miss;
The waters o'er thy corse may roll,—
But thy pure spirit is in bliss.