The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-07-16
AFTER TWENTY YEARS.
delivered at Commencement, Middlebury Co
lege. June 7th.

delivered at Commencement, Middlebury Col
| lege, June It'll.
! In the old days of the past
Bravest heroes lived and died, tf
And their praises by the poets have been sung;
Some have held their fame alway,
Some have known 1t but n day;
For years are days, the centuries ainongi l..
But the clear star OF his fame
Sht glory DER the land,
Shining bright and brighter in the sky of time,
Like The white plume Unaware
Seen by loyal eyes afar,
Small Its need OF faltering ornaments of rhymel
Aye, he did not cease to fight "a
When he died a hcro's death,
For his mighty struggle crushed Rebellion down
Ming ing with the shot and shell
Rose the strong and mighty swell
vi the soldiers song, the song oil oluJohn Brown.
Loud roared the guns on sumter's frowning walls
a. mai day ofdays. near twenty years ago,
When up irom earth million voices cried
our traitor hands shall reap the fields ye sowi"
All, well we know these were no idle words,
No threats 10 lrighten, for the decd was donei
And when ON Rchmond's walls our colors waved,
The Worth had nnished what John Brown be.
Then through the land triumphant peals rang out
From brazen bells, high in their airy towersi
nation rose TO greet the war-worn braves,
And deck the Stars and Stripes with springs
far 1owcrs
on to the Southland, where the SUMS fierce rays
Beat down upon plantations far and wide,
Up rose mighty shout NON slaves set tree.
A shout that sweiied, and echoed far, ana died
Aye, letters had been broken, chains were rent;
Tue slave shrank from his masters lash no
But, in the nights thick darkness, blows were
A shrek, stined moan, and all was o'eri
On cabin walls the sunlight cleaned the same,
The warm winds blew as sweet, as soft and low,
As when the slaves first shout for freedom rang
On uat great morning weary days agol
The years rolled on; the wars red stains were
But Freedom lived in name, and name alone,
The bondsman's eyes look toward the distant
Can freedom there for all the past atonc2
First in lone cabins were flint whispers heard,
where brave men gathered and in secret pan
To rouse their fellow bondmen from their sleep,
And seek Tor liberty IN that far land
Where Western suns lit praries stretching wide
The paradise where first their savior won,
Who with his iron hand held back the hounds
That yclped along the path the slave had rnnl
When days are clear and birds are on the wing
And meadow, hill and woodland ring NTH song,
Sometimes u cloud, taron The horizons rim,
Floats slowly up and sails the skies along.
Black grows the hanging mass, and shrouls the
sun; t" f7r tsr -
Low, rumbling thunders echo far and nclr;
The storm III grandcst majesty bursts forth,
While monarchs of the wood bow down in fear
SO rose the exodus. A Whisper first,
That in the silence grew irom day to day;
Then louder swcllcd and rang from shore to
shore, /
While thousands journeyed on their weary way
The land is reached the weay march is ,lonci
The dusky traveller lays his burden down, |
And in that land where first his blows were struck
Floats grandly up the song of old John Brown
just across the wnd.swept lake, l
Where the mountains raise their crcsts, |
Lies the grave OF one who fought for love. and
No grand sculpture rcars its head
Ger the silence of the dead,
Where the forest stretches backward wild and
wide. '-'
But the green hills guard his rest,
And the woodbirds sing their songs,
While the whispering pines chant rcquiems Ger
Grand the deeds that he has done,
Fresh the glory he has won,
F or he lives among the bravest Of the brave
And the clear star ofhis fame
Sheds glory DER the land,
Shining bright and brighter in the sky OF time.
Like the white plume of Navarro
Seen by loyal eyes atar,
Small its need of faltering ornaments Of rhyme!
HENRY RIPLEY DORf.
Rutland, vt.