Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
Birds of PassageFlight the Fourth. Charles Sumner
G
And flowers upon his hearse,
And to the tender heart and brave
The tribute of this verse.
The conflict and the pain,
The grief, the bitterness of strife,
The honor without stain.
Into his manly breast
The sheaf of hostile spears, and broke
A path for the oppressed.
Upon a nation’s heart
Borne like a warrior on his shield!—
So should the brave depart.
And stays our hurrying feet;
The great design unfinished lies,
Our lives are incomplete.
Perfect their circles seem,
Even as a bridge’s arch of stone
Is rounded in the stream.
When life in death survives,
And the uninterrupted breath
Inspires a thousand lives.
For ages would its light,
Still travelling downward from the sky,
Shine on our mortal sight.
For years beyond our ken,
The light he leaves behind him lies
Upon the paths of men.