Page:Poems of home and country (IA poemsofhomecount01smit).pdf/146

 Catching the earliest morning's crimson streams,

And latest splendor of the evening beams,

Towering o'er all, it meets the distant sight,

And bathes its summit in the peerless light,—

So, in his country, in his age, alone,

As in the earlier times great Washington;

When foemen trod the stage with haughty stride,

He for his country spoke with manly pride,

Consoled the timid, made the fainting strong,

Stood for the right, and frowned upon the wrong.

As some brave soldier waves his flag on high,

And points his comrades on, to do or die,

Then plants the banner on the topmost height,

Borne through the fiercest whirlwind of the fight,

Himself forgetting, eager but to see

His nation's struggle crowned by victory,—

So toiled in love, so stood, till evening set,

The ripe, the brave, immortal Everett.

Well at his funeral-pomp did wreaths of green

Adorn the places where his life had been,

And garlands deck, with sweet and cheerful bloom,

The opening gateway to his honored tomb.

The full-blown flowers, of pure and spotless white,

Symbols of finished life, a life upright;

The bursting buds, of fresh and bright renown,

Wreathed o'er his name, like an immortal crown,—

Each fragrant blossom round the good and brave,

Telling how virtue lives beyond the grave.

The martial dirge, with deep and solemn strain,

Fell on the ear as falls the gentle rain,

Breathing o'er troubled hearts a healing balm;

While mingling organ-notes prolonged the psalm,

As if the twofold music had been given,

Symbol of closing earth and opening heaven.

Thus when the good man parts from earth and time,

Soaring from toil and pain to joys sublime,