In Memory of General Grant
by Henry Abbey (1842-1911) |
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White wings of commerce sailing far,
Hot steam that
drives the weltering wheel,
Tamed lightning speeding on
the wire,
Iron postman on the way of steel,�
These,
circling all the world, have told
The loss that makes us
desolate;
For we give back to dust this day
The
God-sent man who saved the state.
When black the sky
and dire with war,
When every heart was wrung with fear,
He rose serene, and took his place,
The great occasion's
mighty peer.
He smote armed opposition down,
He bade
the storm and darkness cease,
And o'er the
long-distracted land
Shone out the smiling sun of peace.
The famous captains of the past
March in review
before the mind:
Some fought for glory, some for gold,
But most to yoke and rule mankind.
Not so the captain
dead to-day,
For whom our half-mast banners wave:
He
fought to keep the Union whole,
And break the shackles of
the slave.
A silent man, in friendship true,
He
made point-blank his certain aim,
And, born a stranger to
defeat,
To steadfast purpose linked his name:
For
while the angry flood of war
Surged down between its
gloomy banks
Of but a soldier in the ranks.
How
well he wore white honor's flower,
The gratitude and
praise of men,
As General, as President,
And then as
simple citizen!
He was a hero to the end:
The dark
rebellion raised by Death
Against the Powers of Life and
Light,
He battled hard, with failing breath.
O hero of
Fort Donelson,
And wooded Shiloh's frightful strife!
Sleep on! for honor loves the tomb
More than the garish
ways of life.
Sleep on! sleep on! Thy wondrous life
Is
freedom's most illustrious page;
And fame shall loudly
sound thy praise
In every clime, to every age. |
By Henry Abbey (1842-1911)
Listed
November 1, 2012 |
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