Had Lincoln lived,
How would his hand, so gentle yet so strong,
Have closed the gaping wounds of ancient wrong;
How would his merry jests, the way he smiled,
Our sundered hearts to union have beguiled;
How would the South from his just rule have learned
That enemies to neighbors may be turned,
And how the North, with his sagacious art,
Have learned the power of a trusting heart;
What follies had been spared us, and what stain,
What seeds of bitterness that still remain,
Had Lincoln lived!
With Lincoln dead,
Ten million men in substitute for one
Must do the noble deeds he would have done:
Must lift the freedman with discerning care,
Nor house him in a castle of the air;
Must join the North and South in every good,
Fused in co-operating brotherhood;
Must banish enmity with his good cheer,
And slay with sunshine every rising fear;
Like him to dare, and trust, and sacrifice,
Ten million lesser Lincolns must arise,
With Lincoln dead.
[Illustration: THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL