Classic Poem

Back from the hot war-ways of Mexico,
His martial genius later set proud seal
Upon West Point in superintending care.
Thence, in command of new-made Cavalry,
He served the Lone Star State against the Red Man.

'Twas prophecy and fate together mixed,
That unto him was given the strangest work
To crush the strangest hero — sinner or saint
Let history judge — whose maddened brain was filled
With plots of slave-uprisings, fights for hate,
And slaughter for emancipation's sake —
John Brown, last scion of the Puritans,
First son incarnadine of Abolition.
Oh Ossawattamie and Harper's Ferry!
Oh blood and gallows, — terrible presage
Of times more terrible whose lurid wings
Cast ominous shadows o'er a troubled land!
No man may write the tale. Years come and go,
And questioning generations tread the earth,
But none may ever picture those dark hours
With issuances as of whirlwinds loosed.
Alas, John Brown; alas, Lee's judgment sword;
Under the Stars and Stripes — and Destiny!