John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Personal PoemsOur Autocrat
H
Romance, art, science, rich in all,
And young of heart, how dare we say
We keep his seventieth festival?
Before his sweetness and his light
The dial holds its shadow back,
The charmëd hours delay their flight.
Of men and moods, electric wit,
Free play of mirth, and tenderness
To heal the slightest wound from it.
Life’s sins and sorrows and regrets,
Its hopes and fears, its final call
And rest beneath the violets.
The thoughtful tide beneath it rolled,
The wisdom of the latter days,
And tender memories of the old.
Before us at his bidding come!
The Treadmill tramp, the One-Horse Shay,
The dumb despair of Elsie’s doom!
The plea for lips that cannot speak,
The holy kiss that Iris laid
On Little Boston’s pallid cheek!
His sweetest songs at evening time,
And, like his Chambered Nautilus,
To holier heights of beauty climb!
The table that he rules at will,
Its Autocrat, however crowned,
Is but our friend and comrade still.
The wealth of all his varied powers;
A stronger claim has love than fame,
And he himself is only ours!