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[Sonnet, in] The Liberty Bell

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (1823-1911)

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19

Sonnet

[_]

The attribution of this poem is uncertain.

TO WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.

BY J. W. HIGGINSON.
'T is not that deeds like thine need my poor praise,
When, though commending not each word of strife,
I yet would thank thee for thy manly life,
Thou rugged Luther of these latter days:
Oh when will men look through thine ardent phrase
To the true depth of that devoted heart,
Where selfish hope or fear had never part
To swerve thee, with the crowd, from Truth's plain ways!
When that day comes, thy brothers, wiser grown,
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Shall reverence struggling man's true friend in thee,
Thy life of stern devotion shall atone,
For some few words that seemed too rough to be,
And they shall grave upon thy funeral stone
“This man spoke truth and helped us to grow free.”
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U. S.
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