The Poets' Lincoln; Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President

iift of if asou swomc pterce Edition Limited to 250 Copies Poets Lincoln TRIBUTES IN VERSE TO THE MARTYRED PRESIDENT Selected by OSBORN H. OLDROYD AUTHOR OFj"THE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND EDITOR OF THE "WORDS OF LINCOLN" With many portraits of Lincoln, illustrations of events in his life, etc. PUBLISHED BY THE EDITOR AT "THE HOUSE WHERE LINCOLN DIED WASHINGTON, D. C. 1915 Copyright 1915, by OSBORN H. OLDROYD ACKNOWLEDGMENT Editor is most grateful to the various authors who THEhave willingly given their consent to the use of their respective poems in the compilation of this volume. It has been a somewhat difficult problem, not only to select the more appropriate productions, but also to find the names of their authors, for in his Lincoln collection there are many hundreds of poems which have appeared from time to time in magazines, newspapers and other productions, some of which are accom panied by more than one name as author of the same poem. In a number of instances it has been difficult to ascertain the name of the actual owner of the copyright, the poems having been printed in so many forms without the copyright mark attached. The Editor in particular extends his grateful acknowledg ment to the Houghton Mifflin Company for permission to reprint the "Emancipation Group" by John G. Whittier; the "Life Mask" by Richard Watson Gilder; "The Hand of Lincoln" by Clarence Stedman; "Commemoration Ode" by James Russell Lowell, and the "Gettysburg Address" by Bayard Taylor; to Charles Scribner s Sons for two "Lincoln" poems by Richard Henry Stoddard; and to the J. B. Lippincott Company for the poem "Lincoln" by George Henry Boker. The Editor is also grateful to Dr. Marion Mills Miller for his contribution of the introduction and a poem specially written, for the collection, and also for assistance in the editorial work. FOREWORD great man has ever been spoken of with such tender NOexpressions of high regard as has been Abraham Lincoln. Especially is this true of the tributes of esteem made by the poets to his memory. It is therefore desirable that these should be preserved for future generations, and at this time, the fiftieth anniversary of his untimely death, it is peculiarly proper that they should be presented to the public. Although they are chiefly the productions of American authors, quite a number are from the pens of appreciative citizens of other countries. From the thousand of meritorious poems which have been written about Lincoln, the compiler, after serious consideration, has selected those within as appearing to be gems; although there were others which he would have been glad to include if space permitted. The poems and illustrations are arranged largely in the chrono logical order of their application to the events in the life of Lincoln. The intense sympathy and warm appreciation por trayed therein for our Martyred President, as well as their artistic merit assure the poems a sacred place in the heart of every patriotic American. The large number of selected portraits and illustrations of events connected with his life, service, death and burial, with brief sketches of authors of the following poems, also forms a compilation of rich material for all readers of Lincoln literature. The object in publishing this compilation is to assist in pre serving the collection of memorials now contained in the house in which Lincoln died, 516 Tenth Street, Washington, D. C. OSBORN H. OLDROTD. Washington, D. C., September twelve, Nineteen hundred and fifteen. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION The Poetic Spirit of Lincoln, by Marion Mills Miller v MY CHILDHOOD S HOME I SEE AGAIN, by Abraham Lincoln vi BUT HERE S AN OBJECT MORE OF DREAD, by Abra ham Lincoln viii OH, WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT OF MORTAL BE PROUD? By William Knox ix SPEECH AT GETTYSBURG (in verse form), by Abraham Lincoln xiii SOLILOQUY OF KING CLAUDIUS, by William Shakes peare xvii LINCOLN, by Julia Ward Howe 14 THE GREAT OAK, by Bennett Chappie 15 LINCOLN, by Noah Davis 17 THE BIRTH OF LINCOLN, by George W. Crofts 19 MENDELSSOHN, DARWIN, LINCOLN, by Clarence E. Carr . 20 THE NATAL DAY OF LINCOLN, by James Phinney Baxter . 22 NANCY HANKS, by Harriet Monroe 25 LINCOLN THE LABORER, by Richard Henry Stoddard . 29 A PEACEFUL LIFE, by James Whitcomb Riley 31 LEADER OF His PEOPLE, by William Wilberforce Newton 32 LINCOLN, by Wilbur Hazelton Smith 35 LINCOLN IN His OFFICE CHAIR, by James Riley .... 37 THE VOICE OF LINCOLN, by Elizabeth Porter Gould ... 41 THE THOUGHTS OF LINCOLN, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps . 43 ON THE LIFE-MASK OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Richard Watson Gilder 45 THE HAND OF LINCOLN, by Edmund Clarence Stedman . 47 HONEST ABE OF THE WEST, by Edmund Clarence Stedman 51 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, 1860, by William Henry Bur- leigh 53 LINCOLN, 1809-FEBRUARY 12, 1909, by Madison Cawein . 56 THE MATCHLESS LINCOLN, by Isaac Bassett Choate ... 59 LINCOLN, by Charlotte Becker 61 LINCOLN AT SPRINGFIELD, 1861, by Anna Bache 65 LINCOLN CALLED TO THE PRESIDENCY, by Henry Wilson Clendenin 70 LINCOLN THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE, by Edwin Markham . 74 LINCOLN, by John Vance Cheney 76 LINCOLN S CHURCH IN WASHINGTON, by Lyman Whitney Allen 80 SONNET IN 1862, by John James Piatt 83 LINCOLN, SOLDIER OF CHRIST, in Macmillan s Magazine . 85 A CHARACTERIZATION OF LINCOLN, by Hamilton Schuyler . 87 THE EMANCIPATION GROUP, by John Greenleaf Whittier . 91 THE LIBERATOR, by Theron Brown 94 To PRESIDENT LINCOLN, by Edmund Oilier 96 ON FREEDOM S SUMMIT, by Charles G. Foltz 98 CONTENTS PAGE ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF THE CEME TERY AT GETTYSBURG, by Abraham Lincoln . 100 GETTYSBURG by Bayard Taylor . 102 ODE, _ LINCOLN S SECOND INAUGURAL, by Benjamin Franklin Taylor 104 OH, PATIENT EYES! by Herman Hagedorn 107 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Margaret Elizabeth Sangster . 109 THE MAN LINCOLN, by Wilbur Dick Nesbit 113 THE MASTER, by Edwin Arlington Robinson 116 LINCOLN, by Harriet Monroe 119 THE EYES OF LINCOLN, by Walt Mason 121 HE LEADS Us STILL, by Arthur Guiterman 123 LINCOLN, by S. Weir Mitchell 125 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by George Alfred Townsend .... 126 LINCOLN, by Paul Lawrence Dunbar 128 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Alice Gary 130 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Rose Terry Cooke 132 LINCOLN, by Frederick Lucian Hosmer 134 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Charles Monroe Dickinson . 136 Sic SEMPER TYRANNIS! by Robert Leighton 139 ABRAHAM LINCOLN FOULLY ASSASSINATED, by Tom Taylor, 140 THE DEATHBED 144 LINCOLN AND STANTON, by Marion Mills Miller .... 146 THE HOUSE WHERE LINCOLN DIED, by Robert Mackay . 151 IN TOKEN OF RESPECT, Translation of Latin Verses . 152 ENGLAND S SORROW, from London Fun 153 THE FUNERAL HYMN OF LINCOLN, by Phineas Densmore Gurley 155 REST, REST FOR HIM, by Harriet McEwen Kimball . 157 THE FUNERAL CAR OF LINCOLN, by Richard Henry Stod- dard 159 THE DEATH OF LINCOLN, by William Cullen Bryant . 161 ODE, by Henry T. Tuckerman 163 TOLLING, by Lucy Larcom 164 REQUIEM OF LINCOLN, by Richard Storrs Willis .... 167 REQUIEM, by James Nicoll Johnston 168 SERVICES IN MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Oliver Wendell Holmes 170 SPRINGFIELD S WELCOME TO LINCOLN, by William Allen . 173 LINCOLN, by Lucy Hamilton Hooper 175 LET THE PRESIDENT SLEEP, by James M. Stewart ... 179 THE CENOTAPH OF LINCOLN, by James Mackay .... 181 DEDICATION POEM, by James Judson Lord 183 THE GRAVE OF LINCOLN, by Edna Dean Proctor .... 186 COMMEMORATION ODE, by James Russell Lowell .... 189 AN HORATIAN ODE, by Richard Henry Stoddard .... 193 O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! by Walt Whitman 197 ON THE ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN, by Henry De Garrs . 200 POETICAL TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LIN COLN, by Emily J. Bugbee 201 LINCOLN, 1865, by John Nichol 204 LINCOLN, by Christopher Pearse Cranch 206 LINCOLN, by George Henry Boker 208 CONTENTS PAGE ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Phoebe Gary 210 LINCOLN, by Charles Graham Halpin ("Miles O Reilly") . 215 THE MARTYR PRESIDENT 219 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Eugene J. Hall 220 THE TOMB OF LINCOLN, by Samuel Francis Smith . 222 LINCOLN, by John Townsend Trowbridge 227 HOMAGE DUE TO LINCOLN, by Kinahan Cornwallis . 229 THE SCOTLAND STATUE, by David K. Watson 231 THE UNFINISHED WORK, by Joseph Fulford Folsom . 234 ONE OF OUR PRESIDENTS, by Wendell Phillips Stafford . 236 ON A BRONZE MEDAL OF LINCOLN, by Frank Dempster Sherman 239 THE GLORY THAT SLUMBERED IN THE GRANITE ROCK, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 241 THE LINCOLN BOULDER, by Louis Bradford Couch . 243 WHEN LINCOLN DIED, by James Arthur Edgerton . 247 HAD LINCOLN LIVED, by Amos Russell \Vells 250 LET His MONUMENT RISE, by Samuel Green Wheeler Benjamin 253 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE PRESIDENT LINCOLN, Photograph by Brady, 1864 Frontispiece LINCOLN, from a Bust by Johannes Gelert iv THE LOG CABIN, Birthplace of Lincoln 13 LINCOLN BY THE CABIN FIRE 16 MENDELSSOHN, DARWIN, LINCOLN 20 MONUMENT TO THE MOTHER OF LINCOLN 25 THE RAIL SPLITTER 28 THE BOY LINCOLN, by Eastman Johnson 30 LINCOLN THE LAWYER, from an Ambrotype, 1856 .... 34 LINCOLN S OFFICE CHAIR 36 LINCOLN AS A CANDIDATE FOR UNITED STATES SENATOR, from an Ambrotype by Gilmer, 1858 40 LINCOLN AT THE TIME OF DEBATE WITH DOUGLAS, from an Ambrotype, 1858 42 THE LINCOLN LIFE-MASK, by Leonard W. Volk ... 44 THE HAND OF LINCOLN, a Cast by Leonard W. Volk . 46 HON. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY, 1860, painted by Hicks 49 THE "WIGWAM," Convention Hall in Chicago, 1860 ... 50 LINCOLN AS CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT, from an Ambrotype, 1860 52 "HONEST ABE," Campaign Cartoon of 1860 55 LINCOLN AS CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT, Photograph by Hesler, Chicago, 1860 58 LINCOLN AS CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT, Photograph at Springfield, 111., 1860 60 CABIN OF LINCOLN S PARENTS, on Goose-Nest Prairie, 111.

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