The state journal., 1874-11-20
., WHY SHOULD THE SPIRIT OF MORTAL
BE PROUD?

with Mr.. Lincoln. +. Is. Carpenter, the Artist,
writes tlia: while engaged in painting his pic
t,,re at the White House, he was alone one eve
ming with the President in his room, when he
said: ''There is poem which has been grcst
favorite with me for years which WAS first shown
to me when Il young man by u friend, and
which afterward saw and cut from u ncwspa-
per and learned by heart. would" he con
taued, 'giye great deal to know who wrote
it, but have never been able to asccrtain."] qr'
o. why sllould the spirit Of mortal be proudy ,i
Like swift-fecting meteor, a fnst-t,ying cloud.
a flash OF the lightning. break of the wave
Man passes from life to his rest in the grave.
The leaves of the oak and tho willow will fade.
BE scattered around and together be laid {: NJ, I
And the young and the old. and the low and the
high, 'In ftif Ifr fi0f - -
Shall moulder to dust and together shall lie.
The infant Il mother attended and loved; .p
The mother that infants affection who proved:
The husband that mother and infant who bless.
+. i. cd, -.,&.-. ... ..,p..,tf
Each, all, are away TO their dwelling of rest.
The maid on whose check, on whose brow. in
whose eye,
shone beauty and pleasure,--her triumphs are
And the memory of those who loved her and
praised, }. .s. t. ntl IIIllT =
Are alike from the minds of the living erased.
The band Of the king that the sceptrc hath borne;
mhe brow OF the priest that the mtre hath worn
!he eye or the sage and the heart Of the brave
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave.
The peasant whose lot was to SOW and to rerp:
The herdsman. who climbed with his goats IN
the steep; " -
The beggar, who wandered in search of his
bread,
Have faded away like the grass that we tread.
The saint who enjoyed the communion Of
heaven. IN .F wv
The sinner who dared to remain untorgiven,
The wise and the foolish. the guilty and Just,
nave quieuy mingled their bones in the dust.
So the multitude goes. like the flowers or the
weed
That withers away to let others succeed, '
So the multitude comes, even those we behold.
10 repeat every tale that has often been told, 4
For we are the same our fathers have been.
we see me same sights our fathers bavc soen.--
we drihk tne same stream and view the same
And run the same Course our fathers have run.
The th1gglts we are thinking our fathers would
From the death we are shrinking our fathers
10 the lie we nre clinging they also would cling
But 1t speeds for US all, like bird on tho wing.
They loved, but the story we can not unfold.
They scorned, but tho heart OF tho naughty is
:old; """e"'' ''
They grieved, but M vail from the r slumbcrs
Will come;
They joyed, but the tongue of their gladnoss is
dumb. e"'N'' ~
lbey died. ny they died: and we things thut
are now.
Who walk on the turf that lies over their brow.
who make in their dwelling transient abode.
Meet the things that they met on their pigrin,-
age road.
Yes! hope and despondency. pleasure and pain.
we mingle together In sunshine and rain;
And the smiles and the tears, thr song and the
dirge, '"N
Still follow each other, like surge upon surge.
'Fls the wink OF an eye, 'tis the iraughs Of
breath,
From the blossom of health to the pa'eness of
From the gilded saloon to the bier and tho
shr0ud.-
O,whv should the spirit of mortal be proud: