XI Not in anger, not in pride, Pure from passion's mixture rude 350 But with far-heard gratitude, The strain should close that consecrates our brave. Lift the heart and lift the head! 360 Lofty be its mood and grave, Not without a martial ring, Not without a prouder tread And a peal of exultation: Little right has he to sing Through whose heart in such an hour Beats no march of conscious power, Sweeps no tumult of elation! 'T is no Man we celebrate, By his country's victories great, A hero half, and half the whim of Fate, But the pith and marrow of a Nation Drawing force from all her men, Highest, humblest, weakest, all, For her time of need, and then Pulsing it again through them, Till the basest can no longer cower, Feeling his soul spring up divinely tall, Touched but in passing by her mantle hem. 370 Come back, then, noble pride, for 't is her dower! How could poet ever tower, If his passions, hopes, and fears, If his triumphs and his tears, Kept not measure with his people? 380 Boom, cannon, boom to all the winds and waves! Clash out, glad bells, from every rocking steeple! Banners, advance with triumph, bend your staves! And from every mountain-peak Let beacon-fire to answering beacon speak, Katahdin tell Monadnock, Whiteface And so leap on in light from sea to sea, 390 "Be proud! for she is saved, and all have helped to save her! She that lifts up the manhood of the POEMS OF THE CIVIL WAR (1861-1865) (Under this heading are included representative verse which would not otherwise have appeared in this volume. A full list of the poems of the War printed in the index, includes also contributions on this fruitful theme from Bryant, Whittier, Lowell, Timrod, Hayne, Longfellow, Holmes, Lanier, and Whitman.) Came homeward in the morning-to find his house burned down. Then he grasped his trusty rifle and boldly fought for freedom; Smote from border unto border the fierce, invading band; And he and his brave boys vowed-so might Heaven help and speed 'em!They would save those grand old prairies from the curse that blights the land; II And Old Brown, Osawatomie Brown, Said, "Boys, the Lord will aid us!" and he shoved his ramrod down. And the Lord did aid these men, and they labored day and even, Saving Kansas from its peril; and their very lives seemed charmed, Till the ruffians killed one son, in the blessed light of Heaven, In cold blood the fellows slew him, as he journeyed all unarmed; Then Old Brown, Osawatomie Brown, Shed not a tear, but shut his teeth, and frowned a terrible frown! 20 1 Printed without signature, under the title "John Brown's Invasion." Emerson, who is said to have often enjoyed reading this aloud to his family, included it in his volume of selections, "Parnassus." So he left the plains of Kansas and their bitter woes behind him, Slipt off into Virginia, where the statesmen all are born, Hired a farm by Harper's Ferry, and no one knew where to find him, Or whether he'd turned parson, or was jacketed and shorn; |