Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1847-04-14
From the National Era.
RxND0LPIE or ROANOKE.

OH. Mother Earth upon thy lap ~. ,se.
Thy weary ones receiving, ssse
And Ger them, silent as q dream, IA .s,sa',
Thy grassy mantle weaving; s.J h.
Fold softly in thy long embrace
That heart so worn and broken, ~. bt
And cool its pulse Of, fire beneath 8g
Thy shadows old and oaken. ss.e. ne 3. /,
Shut ZION him the bitter word 3@a '9 sr
And serpent hiss ofscorning;
Nor lei The storms Of yesterday ~
FDisturb his quiet morning: i y t'2~. =
Breathe over him forgetfulness, ,' 10y '-
.Ofali sase deeds Of kindness, YEA q '''''
And save to. smiles of gratefulness a
Pressed down his lids In blindness. ~
There. where with lingering ear and eye
He heard Potomacks flowing, afs
And, through his tall ancestral trees, 81,
Saw sAhtumn's sunset glowing l l.--
lie sleeps sastill looking toahe West,
Beneath tho dark wood shadow, .al3
Al IL he still woah see the SIM a9.
Sink down on wave and meadow. So y (.
Bard, Sage, and Tribppe!--In himself asa
An moods of mind cont rasting--, g.,., j
The. tendeTest wall Of human wo, All e.f
The scorn lika Iigh thing blasting; g,,
The. path os which from rival eyes 81 4 ,s.
Unwilling tears could sulnmon; ,,.,,s
The singing taunt, he fiery burst, VA.
Ofhatred scarcely human! ~ r.s4 saaa,
Mirth sparkling like a diamond, showed,
FrSmslips Of life long sadness,
Clear pictnrings Of majestic thought So,
Upon ground ofmadness: ..,
And over ali Romance and Song
a classic beauty throwing; -.
And laureled Clio at his side
Her storied pages showing, ....,
An parties feared him! each in turn s
aBeheld his schemes disjointed, f"
As right or left his fatal glance 4'f
And spectral fingers pointed, 't ~
Sworn foe Of Cant, he smote it down
bsWiths trenchant wit unsparing,
And, mocking, rant with ruthless hand
The robe Pyetence was wearing.
Too hone 81 or too proud to feign .
q A love he never cherished, U.s. 7 -.,
Beyond Virginia's border line '.s D.
His patriotism perished: sa.s- -1 .l
While other hailed in distant skies
Our Eagles dusky pinion, a .,
He only saw the mountain bird
Stoop ser his Old Dominion! sa
Still through each change Of fortune strange
sRacked nerve, and brain oil burning, ..,
His loving faith in mother land
Knew never shade or turning; .f-...
By Bntain's lakes, by Neva's wave, ~. ..
Whatever sky was DER him, 49,. a-.
He heard her rivers rushing sound, ..-
Her blue peaks rose before him. ,a
He held his slave, yet made wlthal
No false and vain pretences, . ...o
Nor paid lying priest to seek
Fer sscriptural defences.
His harshest words of proud rebuke,
HIS bittereet taunt and scorning, g.
Fell fre-like on the Northern brow i&";i
That bent to him in fawning. .1I il
He held his slaves. yet kept the while
His reverence for the Human; r .rtsH
In the dark vassals Of his will WA
He saw but Man ard Woman!
No hunter of Gods outraged poor =.
His Roanoke valley entered; .s..4 ,E.
No trader in the souls Of men z. ,.r....-g
Across his threshold yentured.s
And when the old and wearied man
Laid down FOR his sleeping, ,-..f f
tAnd ct his side, slave no more,
His brother man stood weeping,
His latest thought, his latest breath,
To freedoms duty giving,
With falling tongue and trembling hand ,
The dying blest the living, -
oh! never bore his ancient State
Atfuer son or brayer!
None trampling with calmer scorn
On foreign hate or favor: a.. "a.
Ae knew her faults, yet never stopped
His proud and manly feeling 49,.
To poor excuses of the wrong
Or meanness of'concealing.
But none beheld with clearer eye 3! 6 4 \
The plague spot Ger her spreading,
None heard more sure the steps Of doom
Along her future treading. hlgaal
For her as for himself he spake,o za.4. l.
Wheu, his gauntform embracing, VI
He traced with dying hand "REMoRsR!"f
And perished in The tracing. Z 4 SIZE
As, from the grave where Henry sleeps,
~ From Vernon's weeping willow,
And from the grassy pail which hides u,
The sage Of N onticello. ~
So from the leaf-strown burial stone
=, OF Randolph's lowly dwelling, % ,
Virginia! .o'erthy'hn Of slaves T'59' y, Z
Awafnfng voice il ssWelling! q s' es
And hark from thy deserted fields Oh
Are sadder warnings spoken, ! 3a< -
From qhench'd hearths, where thy exiled o
Their household gods have broken.
The curse is on thee--wclves for men. Il,