FREEDOM'S first champion in our fettered land! Nor politician nor base citizen Could gibbet thee, nor silence, nor withstand. Thy trenchant and emancipating pen The patriot Lincoln snatched with steady hand, Writing his name and thine on parchment white, 'Midst war's resistless and ensanguined flood; Then held that proclamation high in sight Before his fratricidal countrymen, -- "Freedom henceforth throughout the land for all," -- And sealed the instrument with his own blood, Bowing his mighty strength for slavery's fall; Whilst thou, stanch friend of largest liberty, Survived, -- its ruin and our peace to see. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DINNER IN A QUICK LUNCH ROOM by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET BIRTHDAY POEM FOR THOMAS HARDY by CECIL DAY LEWIS I LOOKED FOR LIFE AND DID A SHADOW SEE by JAMES GALVIN EVENTIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE GARDEN BY MOONLIGHT by AMY LOWELL DOMESDAY BOOK: GEORGE JOSLIN ON LA MENKEN by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |