Classic Poem

Before the world, I hold that none of these:
  The Shushan slave, the Oreb shepherdess,
Nor Moab's gleaner, ever had the ease
  Of carriage, grace of speech, the stateliness
Of step and pose, nor had the art to please
  And charm with symphonies of form and dress,
Nor had such wond'rous eyes, such lovely mouth,
As had this blue-eyed daughter [Lena] of the South!

56

Had priest or prophet ever heard her singing,
  Or seen her, where the clover was in bloom,
Wading knee-deep, while larks were upward springing,
  And winds could scarcely breathe for want of room—
Thus seen her from the dappled hillsides bringing
  The cows home, in the sunset's golden gloom,
Our good old Bible would have had much more
Of love and romance mixed with sacred lore.

57

What man is there who would not dare defend
  A life like this? Is doing so a sin?
Or who should blush to be known as her friend?
  White wonder of creation, fashioned in
The moulds of loveliness; kings might contend
  On martial fields a prize like her to win,
And yet, the cabin's hate and mansion's scorn,—
She suffered both, betwixt them being born.