Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1874-06-19
SUMNER.
.Tune n r '

ana yet again the mOurnful bells
In all thy steepie-towers are rung.
And 1, obedient 10 thy will, ....
Have come simple wreath TO lay,
SuperhuOue, on grave that etill
lie sweet with all the flowers OF May.
take, with awe, the task assigned; a
II may be that my friend might mies, -
In his new sphere OF heart and mind,
Some token from my hand in this.
BY many tender memory moved,
Along the past my thought send;
The record Of the cause he loved
ls the best record Of Its friend.
What hath been said, can butsay;
All know the work that brave man did,
For he was open as the day,
And nothing OF himself he hid.
No trumpet sounded in his ear
He saw hot Sinai's cloud and flame;
But never yet to Hebrew seer
A clearer voice of duty came.
God said: "Break thou these yokes; undo
These heavy burdens. l ordain
A work to last thy whole life through
A ministry Of strife and pain.
"Forego thy dreams Of lettered ease
Put thou the scholars promise by;
The rights OF man are more than these"
He heard, and answered: "Here am tn
He set his face against the blast,
His feet against the 1inty shard
Till the hard service grew, at last,
Its own exceeding great reward.
The fixed star of his faith, through all
Loss, dOub land peril shone the same,
As, through night of storm, some tall
Strong lighthouse lifts It's steady flame.
Beyond the dust ami smoke he saw
The sheayes OF Freedoms large increase,
The holy fanes Of Equal Law,
The New Jerusalem of Peace.
No wall was in his voice none heard,
,, When 'rreason's stOrm-c cloud blackest grew,
The weakness Of a doubtful word,
Ills duty, and the end, he knew.
The first to smite, the first to spare;
Wnen once the hostile ensigns fell,
He stretched out hands Of generous care
10 lift the foe he fought so well.
For there was nothing base, or small
:, OR craven, in his souls broad plan;
Forgiving all things PERSONAL
lie mated only wrong to Man.
The old traditions OF his State.
m me memories OF her great and good,
And in himself embodied stood
How felt the greed Of gold and place.
The venal crew that schemed and planned,
The fine scorn Of that naughty face,
The spurning Of that brfbeless handi
II than Rome's Tribune statelier
He wore his Senatorial robe,
His lofty port was all for her,
The one dear spot on all the globe.
II to the masters plea he gave
The vast contempt his manhood felt
He saw brother in the slave
With Man as Equal Man he dealt.
Proud, was her II his presence kept
Its grandeur whereso'er he trod,
As II from Putarch's gallery stepped
The hero and the demi-god,
None failed, at least, to reach his ear,
Nor want nor woe appealed in vain;
The homesick soldier knew his cheer,
And blessed him from his ward Of pain.
Safely his dearest friends may own
The slight defects he never hid,
The surface blemish in the stone
or the tall, stately pyramid.
Suffice it that he never brought
Ills conscience to the public mart;
But lived himself the truth he taught
White 'souled, cleau-handed, pure OF heart.
What II he felt the natural pride
or power in noble use, too true
With thin humilities to hide
The work he did, the lore he knewi
Was he not just9 Was any wronged
By that assured sef-estimates
He took but what to him belonged,
Unenvious Of another's state.
Well might he heed the words he spake,
And scan win care the written page
Through which he still shall warm and wake
The hearts of men from age to age.
All who shall blame him now because
He solaced thus his hours of paini
Should not the Oerworn thresher pause,
And hold TO light his golden grainl
No sense of humor dropped its oil
On the hard ways his purpose went;
Small play of fancy lightened toll;
He spake alone the thing he meant
He loved his books, the Art that hints
A beauty yelled behind its own,
The grayer's line, the pencils tints,
The chisel's shape evoked from stone.
He cherished void of selfish ends,
The social cOurtesies that bless
And sweeten life, and loved his friends
With most unworldly tenderness.
But still his tired eyes rarely learned
The glad relief by Nature brought;
Her mountain ranges never turned
His current Of persistent thought.
The sea rolled chorus to his speech;
The pine-grove whispered OF his theme;
Where'er he wandered, rock and beach
Were Forum and the Academe.
The sensuous joy from all things fair
his strenuous bent OF soul repressed,
Ana lett from youth to silve red hair
Few hours for pleasure, none for rest.
For all his life was poor without;
y Naturel make the last amends:
Train all thy flowers his grave about,
And make thy singing birds his friendsi
Revive again, thou Summer rain,
The broken turf upon his bedi
Summer
Of low, sweet music overhead
Nor cant, nor poor solictudes,
Made weak his life's great argument;
Small leisure his for frames and moods
VINO followed Duty where she went.
The broad, fair fields Of God he saw
Beyond the bigOt's narrow bound;
The truths he nodded into law
In Christ's beatitudes he found.
His State-craft was the Golden Rule.
His right OF vote a sacred trust;
Clear, over threat and ridicule,
All heard his challenge: us it iustf"
And, when the hour supreme had come,
Not for himself a thought he gave;
In mat last pang OF martyrdOm,
His care was for the half-freed slave.
Not yainly dusky hands upbore,
IN prayer, the passing soul to Heaven,
whose mercy TO the suffering poor
Was service 10 the Master given.
Long shall the good States annals tell
Her children's children long be taught
HOW, praised or blamed, he guarded we'll
ihe trust he neither stunned nor sought.
II for one moment turned thy face,
o mother, from thy SON not long
He waited calmly in his place
The sure remorse which follows wrong,
I n ho fI.aG l.