A Statesman
Stanch at thy post, to meet life’s common doom,
It scarce seems death, to die as thou hast died;
Thy duty done, thy truth, strenght, courage, tried,
And all things ripe for the fulfilling tomb!
A crown would mock thy hearse’s sable gloom,
Whose virtues raised thee higher than a throne,
Whose faults were erring nature’s, not his own, -
Such be thy sentence, writ with fame’s bright plume,
Amongst the good and great; for thou wast great,
In thought, word, deed, - like mightiest ones of old, -
Full of the honest truth which makes men bold,
Wise, pure, firm, just; - the noblest Roman’s state
Became not more a ruler of the free,
Than thy plain life, high thoughts, and matchless constancy!
Stanch at thy post, to meet life’s common doom,
It scarce seems death, to die as thou hast died;
Thy duty done, thy truth, strenght, courage, tried,
And all things ripe for the fulfilling tomb!
A crown would mock thy hearse’s sable gloom,
Whose virtues raised thee higher than a throne,
Whose faults were erring nature’s, not his own, -
Such be thy sentence, writ with fame’s bright plume,
Amongst the good and great; for thou wast great,
In thought, word, deed, - like mightiest ones of old, -
Full of the honest truth which makes men bold,
Wise, pure, firm, just; - the noblest Roman’s state
Became not more a ruler of the free,
Than thy plain life, high thoughts, and matchless constancy!