The Poets' Lincoln: Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President
History
The Poets' Lincoln: Tributes in Verse to the Martyred President
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865 -- Poetry
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
Henry Bacon, Architect]
The Lincoln Memorial will be the costliest monument to the memory of
one man ever reared by a republic. The Capitol, at one end of the
great parkway stretching from Capitol Hill to the Potomac, is a
monument to the Government; the Lincoln Memorial, at the other end of
that parkway, is a monument to the savior of that Government; and the
Washington Monument, standing between, is a monument to its founder.
The memorial will stand on a broad terrace 45 feet above grade. The
colonnade will be 188 feet long and 118 feet wide, and will contain 36
columns, 44 feet high and 7 feet 5 inches in diameter at the base.
Within the interior of the structure will be three halls. In the
central hall, which will be 60 feet wide, 70 long, and 60 high, there
will be a noble statue of Lincoln, while in the two side halls will be
bronze tablets containing the Great Emancipator's second inaugural
address and his Gettysburg speech. The George A. Fuller Company of
Washington are the builders of the Memorial, which will be completed
in 1917.
Samuel Green Wheeler Benjamin, born at Argos, Greece, February 13,
1837. Was United States Minister to Persia (1883-1885). Assistant
Librarian in the New York State Library. In 1861-1864 sent two
companies of cavalry to the war. Served in war hospitals, studied art.
Art editor of American Department _Magazine of Art_, also of the _New
York Mail_. Marine painter and illustrator. Among his numerous works
in prose and verse are _Art in America_, _Contemporary Art in Europe_
(1877); _Constantinople_ (1860); _Persia and the Persians_ (1866);
_The Choice of Paris_ (1870), a romance; _Sea Spray_ (1887), a book
for yachtsmen, etc.
LET HIS MONUMENT ARISE
Let his monument arise,
Pointing upward to the skies,
Founded by a nation's heart,
Grandly shaped in every part
By the master-minds of art,
And consecrated by a nation's tears,
To teach throughout the after-time,
To every tribe, in every clime,
That toil for others is sublime.
INDEX
ALLEN, LYMAN WHITNEY: sketch of, 80;
poem, "Lincoln's Church in Washington," by, 81.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account