Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ELEGIAC ODE OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF INCREASE SUMNER, by ROYALL TYLER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ELEGIAC ODE OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH OF INCREASE SUMNER, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Poets in mighty strains have told
Last Line: Such grateful tribute to bedew its grave.
Alternate Author Name(s): Old Simon; S.
Subject(s): Sumner, Increase (1746-1799)


POETS in mighty strains have told,
And prais'd in high heroic lays
The wond'rous deeds of Chiefs of old,
And crown'd the murd'rers brows with bays.

But say, in Reason's sun-shine-days,
Can regal pomp, or proudest name,
Command the notes of honest praise,
To call the Tyrant into fame?

Here, far from domes of kingly state,
Or proud Oppression's lofty tow'rs,
When modest Merit yields to fate,
Then, Virtue, then the meed is yours.

The Muse, unequal to the theme,
Would call her torpid numbers forth
Though small the title she can claim,
SUMNER, to celebrate thy worth.

Bend, O Columbians o'er the urn,
Where low your much lov'd Patriot lies;
Great cause a nation has to mourn,
When Virtue, and a Patriot, dies!

When Peace her olive branch displays,
When swords to reaping hooks are turn'd,
Should Worth resign to Heav'n his days,
With human woe the loss is mourn'd.

But when War's brazen trumpets bray,
And Treason's breath inspires the blast,
Such Goodness seeks its native Clay,
A people, trembling, shrinks aghast!

Bend, O Columbians! o'er the bier,
Where such exalted Merit lies!
Let ev'ry patriotic tear,
Confound the weak -- rejoice the wife;
And tell the world, Desert alone, can crave,
Such grateful tribute to bedew its grave.





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