By the Sea, and Other Verses

<h2><SPAN name="AT_THE_CRISIS" id="AT_THE_CRISIS">AT THE CRISIS</SPAN></h2> <p class="title">I.&mdash;THE STEAMBOAT BELLS</p> <div class="blockquot"><p>When steamboats approach Mt. Vernon their bells begin to toll, and continue the mournful service until the sacred spot is again left in the distance.</p> </div> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Mt. Vernon's shade sweet vigil keeps<br/></span> <span class="i0">Where on her breast her hero sleeps;<br/></span> <span class="i0">O passing bells, soft be your tone,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Toll gently for our Washington.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Toll, the great Warrior's strife is o'er;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Toll, for the Statesman pleads no more;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Toll&mdash;for a Man is fallen&mdash;on,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Peal out your dirge for Washington.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Toll for a people's wounded heart,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Toll for a bleeding Nation's smart,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Toll for a World!&mdash;toll sadly on&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">The world hath lost a Washington.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ring out your wailing on the air,<br/></span> <span class="i0">And let it be a voice of prayer;<br/></span> <span class="i0">He whom we greatly need is gone;&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i0">God give another Washington.<br/></span></div> </div> <div class="blockquot"><p>1863</p> </div> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Thus while she listened to the mournful knell<br/></span> <span class="i2">That woke sad echoes on Potomac's shore;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Saw how from Sumter's height her banner fell,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And heard, not distant far, loud battle's roar;&mdash;<br/></span><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</SPAN></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Thus, while she heard the impatient bondman's moan,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Knew her own power defied, her trust betrayed;<br/></span> <span class="i0">While Treason rose to hurl her from her throne&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i2">The Spirit of the Union mused and prayed.<br/></span></div> </div> <p class="title">II.&mdash;THE EMANCIPATOR</p> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">God gave another; while we stood<br/></span> <span class="i0">Aghast before the coming flood<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of war, and its attending woes,<br/></span> <span class="i0">The one for whom she prayed arose.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Blinded and deaf, we knew him not;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Yet saw him wipe out slavery's blot;<br/></span> <span class="i0">Heard him proclaim his people free,<br/></span> <span class="i0">From lake to gulf, from sea to sea.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Saw this and heard, but deaf and blind,<br/></span> <span class="i0">We failed to recognize the Mind,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Which, going on from strength to strength,<br/></span> <span class="i0">From grace to grace, had grown at length,<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Thro the stern lessons of the hour,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Of danger, censure, praise and power,<br/></span> <span class="i0">To be the Man among us, one,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Whom now we hail, since he is gone,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Lincoln, our more than Washington.<br/></span></div> </div> <div class="blockquot"><p>1866</p> </div> <hr class="chap" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />