Lyra Pastoralis Songs of Nature, Church, and Home: By Richard Wilton |
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Verses placed on Washington's
Tomb
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Verses placed on Washington's
Tomb
This poem was read aloud at the
tomb of Washington, in the presence of President
McKinley, and a large assembly, including
many leading Freemasons, by Mr. Charles
Woodberry of Beverly, Massachusetts, as representative
of the Earl of Londesborough, and
the Constitutional Lodge, Beverley, Yorkshire,
and was widely circulated throughout the United
States.
This poem was read aloud at the tomb of Washington, in the presence of President McKinley, and a large assembly, including many leading Freemasons, by Mr. Charles Woodberry of Beverly, Massachusetts, as representative of the Earl of Londesborough, and the Constitutional Lodge, Beverley, Yorkshire, and was widely circulated throughout the United States.
ON THE OCCASION OF THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH, 14TH DECEMBER 1899, ALONG WITH THE EARL OF LONDESBOROUGH'S WREATH OF OAK, LAUREL, IVY, AND YEW
I
An English Wreath we fain would layUpon this mighty tomb to-day—
Of laurel, ivy, oak, and yew,
Which drank the English sun and dew
On far-off Yorkshire's grassy sod;
Where once—we boast—his fathers trod,
Whom East and West unite to praise
And crown with never-fading bays.
II
O Washington, thy symbol beThe oak for strength and constancy:
For grandeur and for grace of form,
For calmness in the stress and storm,
The monarch of the forest thou!
To thee the generations bow;
And under thy great shadow rest,
For ever free, for ever blest.
116
III
And thine the laurel, for the fameIllustrious of a Conqueror's name—
Patient to wait and prompt to strike,
Intrepid, fiery, mild alike:
Great, for the greatness of the foe
Which fell by thy repeated blow:
Great, for thy country's greatness, won
By thee, her most belovèd Son.
IV
And as the ivy twines aroundCottage and tower, thy heart was found
Clinging to home, and church, and wife,
The sweeter for the finished strife:
And so thy memory, like the yew,
Will still be green to mortal view—
“The greatest of good men” confest
By all “and of great men the best!”
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