Classic Poem

A CROSS his name and fame has history
Branded interior struggle. Slavery
To him was evil's blotch upon the land.
Secession, phrased by him as revolution,
He deprecated, with its arch-curse strife.
Disunion shaped a terror whose stern voice
Compelled disloyalty to Stars and Stripes.
And war he hated, being versed in war.
His instincts sensed the beasts of passion loosed
And felt the tigerish strides of politics.
Convulsions shook his soul, — the while he saw
Time's near horizons dense with lowering clouds
And charged with mounting flames, — the while he heard
Approaching fratricidal thundery
And the strong pleadings of his home and State.

His people's deep deflection smote his heart,
Since through past years devotion to the Union
Had been the master motive of his life.
Yet were they not his people, wronged? he thought.
Alas the fallacy that shaped his woe!
And was he not the Old Dominion's child
And son of Light-Horse Harry? Was he not,
Being son of Henry Lee, the noble scion
Of noble sire, with nature deeply hued
By the best blood of Southern lineage,
Patrician of patricians? Was he not
Virginia's best beloved? And could his face
Front hers but with allegiance? Could he be
First midst and heading her invading foes?
And was he not by her seceding act,
Being a true Virginia citizen,
Involved with her involvement, her withdrawal
Compelling his, hers being his just excuse?
Alas the exigence that wrought his doom!

The fatal choice — 'tis storied lastingly;
The struggle in the dark for Duty's hand,
The sad rejectment of his Country's hest,
The leadership of swiftly gathering troops,
The desperate turning Southward, the recoil
Upon the States Rights doctrine, alienate
From Stars and Stripes; the giving up his sword,
The blade of fealty, for Rebellion's brand;
The raising of gray regiments beneath
The Stars and Bars to strike Old Glory down;
And the acceptancy of generalship
Of Slavery's and Secession's rising hosts.
Alas the tragedy that broke his heart!