Page:Selections from the American poets (IA selectamerpoet00bryarich).pdf/133
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Fitz-Greene Halleck.
129
Not so his memory, for whose sake
My bosom bore thee far and long,
His—who a humbler flower could make
Immortal as his song.
My bosom bore thee far and long,
His—who a humbler flower could make
Immortal as his song.
The memory of Burns—a name
That calls, when brimm'd her festal cup,
A nation's glory, and her shame,
In silent sadness up.
That calls, when brimm'd her festal cup,
A nation's glory, and her shame,
In silent sadness up.
A nation's glory—be the rest
Forgot—she's canonized his mind;
And it is joy to speak the best
We may of human kind.
Forgot—she's canonized his mind;
And it is joy to speak the best
We may of human kind.
I've stood beside the cottage bed
Where the Bard-peasant first drew breath:
A straw-thatch'd roof above his head,
A straw-wrought couch beneath.
Where the Bard-peasant first drew breath:
A straw-thatch'd roof above his head,
A straw-wrought couch beneath.
And I have stood beside the pile,
His monument—that tells to Heaven
The homage of earth's proudest isle
To that Bard-peasant given!
His monument—that tells to Heaven
The homage of earth's proudest isle
To that Bard-peasant given!
Bid thy thoughts hover o'er that spot,
Boy-Minstrel, in thy dreaming hour;
And know, however low his lot,
A Poet's pride and power.
Boy-Minstrel, in thy dreaming hour;
And know, however low his lot,
A Poet's pride and power.
The pride that lifted Burns from earth,
The power that gave a child of song
Ascendancy o'er rank and birth,
The rich, the brave, the strong;
The power that gave a child of song
Ascendancy o'er rank and birth,
The rich, the brave, the strong;
And if despondency weigh down
Thy spirit's fluttering pinions then,
Despair—thy name is written on
The roll of common men.
Thy spirit's fluttering pinions then,
Despair—thy name is written on
The roll of common men.