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63
ON THE DEATH OF A KINSMAN.
I see an Eagle winging to the sun—
Who sayeth him nay?
He glanceth down from where his wing hath won:
His heart is stout, his flight is scarce begun,—
Oh hopes of clay!
Who sayeth him nay?
He glanceth down from where his wing hath won:
His heart is stout, his flight is scarce begun,—
Oh hopes of clay!
Saw he not how upon the cord was lain
A keen swift shaft;
How Death wrought out in every throbbing vein,
In every after agony of pain,
His bitter craft!
A keen swift shaft;
How Death wrought out in every throbbing vein,
In every after agony of pain,
His bitter craft!
64
Like old Demetrius, the sun had he
Beheld so long,
Now things of earth no longer could he see,
And in his ear sang Immortality
A pleasant song.
Beheld so long,
Now things of earth no longer could he see,
And in his ear sang Immortality
A pleasant song.
Icarus like, he fell when warm and near
The sunshine smiled:
He rose strong-pinioned in his high career—
—Thy dust remains, thy glorious spirit where,
Minerva's child?
The sunshine smiled:
He rose strong-pinioned in his high career—
—Thy dust remains, thy glorious spirit where,
Minerva's child?
Therefore him Fame had written fair and high
Upon her scroll,
Who fell like sudden meteor from the sky,
Who strenuous to win at last did die
E'en at the goal.
Upon her scroll,
Who fell like sudden meteor from the sky,
Who strenuous to win at last did die
E'en at the goal.
June 21st, 1843.
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