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SONNET: 4, 7 by FREDERICK GODDARD TUCKERMAN

First Line: BUT WAR HIS OVERTURNING TRUMPET BLEW
Last Line: SILENT, AND WITH THE FIERY EYE OF GRIEF.

But war his overturning trumpet blew.
And in that scattering blast, the knot was rent
That held them: one his faint steps northward bent,
The younger the blind lot of battle drew;
And all seemed well, no cause for tears or joy;
But tidings came, or else, of these in lieu,
A written word: a hand, though rough to see,
The old man loved, for he had taught the boy.
At length all ceased: the last one was the last;
But still he read and with a fond belief
Weighed each, as 'twere to find some link or clue.
It never came,--but days the old man passed
Pondering upon the letters wistfully,
Silent, and with the fiery eye of grief.



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