 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
53
GOOD AND FAITHFUL.
Gladstone, through youth and manhood, many a yearMy constant heart hath followed thee with praise,
As ‘good and faithful;’ in thy words and ways
Pure-minded, just, and simple, and sincere:
And as, with early half-prophetic ken
I hail'd thy greatness in my college days,
The coming man to guide and govern men,
How gladly that instinctive prescience then
Now do I see fulfill'd! because, thou art
Our England's eloquent tongue, her wise free hand
To pour, wherever is her world-wide mart,
The horn of Plenty over every land;
Because, by every praise of mind and lip
Thou art the crown of Christian statesmanship.
| Three Hundred Sonnets | |