Classic Poem

From gulf to lake, from sea to sea,
The land is draped—a nation weeps;
And o'er the bier bows reverently,
Whereon the silent soldier sleeps.

The mountain-top is bathed in light;
And eastern cliff with outlook wide—
Its name shall live in memory bright—
The Mount MacGregor, where he died.

A monument to stand for aye,
In summer's bloom, in winter's snows;
A shrine where men shall come to pray,
While at its base the Hudson flows.

A humble room, the light burns low;
The morning breaks on distant hill;
The failing pulse is beating slow;
The group is motionless and still.

Two portraits hang upon the wall,
Two kindred pictures side by side—
Statesman and soldier, loved by all—
Lincoln and Grant, Columbia's pride.

A single ray through lattice streams,
And breaks in rainbow colors there;
On Lincoln's brow a glory gleams
As wife and children kneel in prayer.

A halo round the martyr's head,
It lights the sad and solemn room;
Above the living and the dead
The soldier's portrait hangs in gloom—

In shadow one, and one in light:
But look! the pencil-ray has passed,
And on the hero's picture bright
The golden sunlight rests at last.

And so, throughout the coming years,
On both the morning beam shall play,
When the long night of bitter tears
Has melted in the light away.