| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. A Statesman | | By George Lunt (1803–1885) |
| | | 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, strength, courage, tried, | |
| And all things ripe for the fulfilling tomb! | |
| A crown would mock thy hearse’s sable gloom, | 5 |
| 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,— | 10 |
| 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! | | | | |
|
|
