Tribute to Jefferson
The songs that should greet him are songs of the mountain,
No sigh of the pine-tree that murmurs and grieves,
But the music of streams rushing swift from their fountain,
And the soft gale of spring through the sun-spangled leaves.
In the depth of the forest it woke from its slumbers, —
His genius that holds ev'ry heart in its thrall!
Beside the bright torrent he learned his first numbers, —
The thrush's sweet cadence, the meadow-lark's call.
O'er his cradle kind Nature, — that Mother enchanted
Of Beauty and Art, — cast her mantle of grace;
In his eyes lit her passion, and deeply implanted
In his heart her strong love of the whole human race.
Like the rainbow that pierces the clouds where they darken,
He came, ev'ry sorrow and care to beguile;
He spoke, — and the busy throng halted to hearken;
He smiled, — and the world answered back with a smile.
Like the sunburst of April, with mist drifting after,
When in shy, woodland places the daisy uprears,
He blessed ev'ry spirit with innocent laughter, —
The more precious because it was mingled with tears.
Like the rose by the wayside, so simple and tender,
His art was, — to win us because he was true:
We thought not of greatness, or wisdom, or splendor —
We loved him, and that was the whole that we knew!
He would heed the glad voice of the summer leaves shaken
By the gay wind of morning that sports through the trees!
Ah, how shall we bid that wild music awaken,
And thrill to his heart, with such accents as these?
How utter the honor and love that we bear him, —
The High Priest of Nature, the Master confest, —
How proudly, yet humbly, revere, and declare him
The Prince of his Order, the brightest and best!
Ah, vain are all words! But, as long as life's river
Through sunshine and shadow rolls down to the sea;
While the waves dash in music forever and ever;
While clouds drift in glory, and sea-birds are free;
So long shall the light, and the bloom, and the gladness
Of Nature's great heart his ordainment proclaim,
And its one tender thought of bereavement and sadness
Be the sunset of time over J EFFERSON'S fame.
No sigh of the pine-tree that murmurs and grieves,
But the music of streams rushing swift from their fountain,
And the soft gale of spring through the sun-spangled leaves.
In the depth of the forest it woke from its slumbers, —
His genius that holds ev'ry heart in its thrall!
Beside the bright torrent he learned his first numbers, —
The thrush's sweet cadence, the meadow-lark's call.
O'er his cradle kind Nature, — that Mother enchanted
Of Beauty and Art, — cast her mantle of grace;
In his eyes lit her passion, and deeply implanted
In his heart her strong love of the whole human race.
Like the rainbow that pierces the clouds where they darken,
He came, ev'ry sorrow and care to beguile;
He spoke, — and the busy throng halted to hearken;
He smiled, — and the world answered back with a smile.
Like the sunburst of April, with mist drifting after,
When in shy, woodland places the daisy uprears,
He blessed ev'ry spirit with innocent laughter, —
The more precious because it was mingled with tears.
Like the rose by the wayside, so simple and tender,
His art was, — to win us because he was true:
We thought not of greatness, or wisdom, or splendor —
We loved him, and that was the whole that we knew!
He would heed the glad voice of the summer leaves shaken
By the gay wind of morning that sports through the trees!
Ah, how shall we bid that wild music awaken,
And thrill to his heart, with such accents as these?
How utter the honor and love that we bear him, —
The High Priest of Nature, the Master confest, —
How proudly, yet humbly, revere, and declare him
The Prince of his Order, the brightest and best!
Ah, vain are all words! But, as long as life's river
Through sunshine and shadow rolls down to the sea;
While the waves dash in music forever and ever;
While clouds drift in glory, and sea-birds are free;
So long shall the light, and the bloom, and the gladness
Of Nature's great heart his ordainment proclaim,
And its one tender thought of bereavement and sadness
Be the sunset of time over J EFFERSON'S fame.
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