The Poets' Lincoln Part 15

The love, the grandeur, and the fame Are bounded by the world alone; The calm, the smouldering, and the flame Of awful patience were his own; With him they are forever flown Past all our fond self-shadowings, Wherewith we c.u.mber the Unknown As with inept, Icarian wings.

For we were not as other men: 'Twas ours to soar and his to see.

But we are coming down again, And we shall come down pleasantly; Nor shall we longer disagree On what it is to be sublime, But flourish in our perigee And have one t.i.tan at a time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PRESIDENT LINCOLN

Photograph by Gardner, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.

Taken when Lincoln appointed General U. S. Grant Commander-in-chief of the Army, in 1864]

LINCOLN

_By Harriet Monroe_

And, lo! leading a blessed host comes one Who held a warring nation in his heart; Who knew love's agony, but had no part In love's delight; whose mighty task was done Through blood and tears that we might walk in joy, And this day's rapture own no sad alloy.

Around him heirs of bliss, whose bright brows wear Palm leaves amid their laurels ever fair.

Gaily they come, as though the drum Beat out the call their glad hearts knew so well; Brothers once more, dear as of yore, Who in a n.o.ble conflict n.o.bly fell.

Their blood washed pure yon banner in the sky, And quenched the brands laid 'neath these arches high-- The brave who, having fought, can never die.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PRESIDENT-ELECT LINCOLN

From a photograph taken with his Secretaries, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, Springfield, Illinois, 1861]

Walt Mason, born at Columbus, Ontario, May 4, 1862. Self educated.

Came to the United States 1880. Connected with the _Atchinson Globe_ 1885-7, later with _Lincoln_ (Nebraska) _State Journal_ and other papers; editorial paragrapher _Evening News_, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., 1893; a.s.sociated with William Allen White on _Emporia_ (Kansas) _Gazette_ since 1907. His rhymes and prose poems are widely copied in America.

THE EYES OF LINCOLN

Sad eyes that were patient and tender, Sad eyes that were steadfast and true, And warm with the unchanging splendor Of courage no ills could subdue!

Eyes dark with the dread of the morrow, And woe for the day that was gone, The sleepless companions of sorrow, The watchers that witnessed the dawn.

Eyes tired from the clamor and goading And dim from the stress of the years, And hallowed by pain and foreboding And strained by repression of tears.

Sad eyes that were wearied and blighted By visions of sieges and wars Now watch o'er a country united From the luminous slopes of the stars!

[Ill.u.s.tration: PRESIDENT LINCOLN IN 1862

Photograph by Matthew Brady, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C.]

Arthur Guiterman, author, born of American parentage, at Vienna, Austria, November 20, 1871. Editorial work on _Woman's Home Companion_, _Literary Digest_ and other magazines since 1891. Author of _Betel Nuts_, 1907; _Guest Book_, 1908; _Rubiayat_, including the _Literary Omar_, 1909, and _Orestes_ (with Andre Tridon), 1909.

Contributor chiefly of ballad, lyric verse and short stories to magazines and newspapers.

HE LEADS US STILL

Dare we despair? Through all the nights and days Of lagging war he kept his courage true.

Shall Doubt befog our eyes? A darker haze But proved the faith of him who ever knew That Right must conquer. May we cherish hate For our poor griefs, when never word nor deed Of rancor, malice, spite, of low or great, In his large soul one poison-drop could breed?

He leads us still. O'er chasms yet unspanned Our pathway lies; the work is but begun; But we shall do our part and leave our land The mightier for n.o.ble battles won.

Here Truth must triumph, Honor must prevail; The nation Lincoln died for cannot fail!

[Ill.u.s.tration: PRESIDENT LINCOLN

Photograph by Brady, Was.h.i.+ngton, D. C., 1864]

S. Weir Mitch.e.l.l, born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1829. Educated in grammar school, and University of Pennsylvania, but was not graduated because of illness during senior year; Doctor of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, 1850; LL.D., Harvard, 1886; Edinburgh, 1895; Princeton, 1896; Toronto, 1896; Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 1910. Established practice in Philadelphia.

Author of many works on treatment of diseases. _Collected Poems_, 1896-1909; _Youth of Was.h.i.+ngton_, 1904; _A Diplomatic Adventure_, 1905; _The Mind Reader_, 1907; _A Christmas Venture_, 1907; _John Sherwood, Ironmaster_, 1911.

LINCOLN

Chained by stern duty to the rock of State, His spirit armed in mail of rugged mirth, Ever above, though ever near to earth, Yet felt his heart the cruel tongues that sate Base appet.i.tes and, foul with slander, wait Till the keen lightnings bring the awful hour When wounds and suffering shall give them power.

Most was he like to Luther, gay and great, Solemn and mirthful, strong of heart and limb.

Tender and simple, too; he was so near To all things human that he cast out fear, And, ever simpler, like a little child, Lived in unconscious nearness unto Him Who always on earth's little ones hath smiled.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STATUE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

In the Public Square, Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Adolph A. Weinman, Sculptor]