| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
| |
| 922. From “Wendell Phillips” |
| | | By John Boyle O’Reilly |
| |
| |
| WHAT shall we mourn? For the prostrate tree that sheltered the young green wood? | |
| For the fallen cliff that fronted the sea, and guarded the fields from the flood? | |
| For the eagle that died in the tempest, afar from its eyrie’s brood? | |
| |
| Nay, not for these shall we weep; for the silver cord must be worn, | |
| And the golden fillet shrink back at last, and the dust to its earth return; | 5 |
| And tears are never for those who die with their face to the duty done; | |
| But we mourn for the fledglings left on the waste, and the fields where the wild waves run. | |
| |
| From the midst of the flock he defended, the brave one has gone to his rest; | |
| And the tears of the poor he befriended their wealth of affliction attest. | |
| From the midst of the people is stricken a symbol they daily saw, | 10 |
| Set over against the law books, of a Higher than human Law; | |
| For his life was a ceaseless protest, and his voice was a prophet’s cry | |
| To be true to the Truth and faithful, though the world were arrayed for the Lie. | |
| |
| From the hearing of those who hated, a threatening voice has past; | |
| But the lives of those who believe and die are not blown like a leaf on the blast. | 15 |
| A sower of infinite seed was he, a woodman that hewed toward the light, | |
| Who dared to be traitor to Union when Union was traitor to Right! | |
| |
|
|
|
