Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By Charles HenryPhelps1103 Henry Ward Beecher
H
He could not rest, he must speak out,
When Liberty lay stabbed, and doubt
Stalked through the night in vestments dire,—
Praying in agony and despair,
And answer came not anywhere,
But gloom through all the stricken lands,—
“For shame!” he cried; “spare thou the rod;
All men are free before their God!”
The dragon answered with its fang.
Hot belching from the cannon’s mouth,
Yet brave it is, for North or South,
And Truth, to face the mob’s mad breath.
Who prized their manhood more than praise;
Their faith failed not of better days
After the nights of bloody dew.
She looked upon her child askance;
But heard his words and lowered her lance,
Remembering her motherhood.
Thou frontest on the chaste white sea!
Quench thou awhile thy torch, for he
Lies dead on whom thou once did lean.
In any fetters was his friend;
His warfare never knew an end;
Wherever men lay bound he clave.