Page:Poems written during the progress of the abolition question in the United States.djvu/67

 Finished thy work, and kept thy faith In Christian firmness unto death: And beautiful, as sky and earth, When Autumn's sun is downward going, The blessed memory of thy worth Around thy place of slumber glowing! But, wo for us! who linger still With feebler strength and hearts less lowly, And minds less steadfast to the will Of Him, whose every work is holy! For not like thine, is crucified The spirit of our human pride: And, at the bondsman's tale of wo, And, for the outcast and the forsaken, Not warm like thine, but cold and slow, Our weaker sympathies awaken! Darkly upon our struggling way The storm of human hate is sweeping; Hunted and branded, and a prey, Our watch amidst the darkness keeping! Oh! for that hidden strength which can Nerve unto death the inner man! Oh! for thy spirit tried and true, And constant in the hour of trial— Prepared to suffer, or to do, In meekness and in self-denial.