WHEN LINCOLN DIED

When Lincoln died a universal grief

Went round the earth. Men loved him in that hour.

The North her leader lost, the South her friend;

The nation lost its savior, and the slave

Lost his deliverer, the most of all.

Oh, there was sorrow mid the humble poor

When Lincoln died!

When Lincoln died a great soul passed from earth,

A great white soul, as tender as a child

And yet as iron willed as Hercules.

In him were strength and gentleness so mixed

That each upheld the other. He possessed

The patient firmness of a loving heart.

In power he out-kinged emperors, and yet

His mercy was as boundless as his power.

And he was jovial, laughter loving; still

His heart was ever torn with suffering.

There was divine compassion in the man,

A godlike love and pity for his race.

The world saw the full measure of that love

When Lincoln died.

When Lincoln died a type was lost to men.

The earth has had her conquerors and kings

And many of the common great. Through all

She only had one Lincoln. There is none

Like him in all the annals of the past.

He was a growth of our new soil, a child

Of our new time, a symbol of the race

That freedom breeds; was of the lowest rank,

And yet he scaled the highest height.

Mankind one of its few immortals lost

When Lincoln died.

When Lincoln died it seemed a providence,

For he appeared as one sent for a work

Whom, when that work was done, God summoned home.

He led a splendid fight for liberty,

And when the shackles fell the land was saved;

He laid his armor by and sought his rest.

A glory sent from heaven covered him

When Lincoln died.

[Illustration: A STUDY OF LINCOLN