(Written for the Funeral Service in Commemoration of the Life and Character of CHARLES FOLLEN, before the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, April 17th, 1840. Address by Samuel J. May) O, NOT for thee weep; -- we weep For her, whose lone and long caress, And widow's tears, from fountains deep, Fall on the early fatherless. 'T is for ourselves we mourn; -- we mourn Our blighted hopes, our wishes crossed, Thy strength, that hath our burdens borne, Thy love, thy smile, thy counsels lost. 'T is for the slave we sigh: -- we sigh To think thou sleepest on a shore Where thy calm voice and beaming eye Shall plead the bondman's cause no more. 'T is for our land we grieve: -- we grieve That Freedom's fane, Devotion's shrine, And Faith's fresh altar, thou should'st leave, And they all lose a soul like thine. A soul like thine -- so true a soul, Wife, friends, our land, the world must miss: The waters o'er thy corse may roll, But thy pure spirit is in bliss. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A LITTLE WHILE by SARA TEASDALE THE HAUNTED OAK by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE CHARACTER OF HOLLAND by ANDREW MARVELL THE SWING by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON DISCIPLINE by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH TO SWEET MEAT, SOUR SAUCE; AN IMITATION OF THEOCRITUS OR ANACREON by PHILIP AYRES |