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TO THE MEMORY OF CHANNING.

“The Prophets, do they live forever?”—Zech. i. 5.

 Those spirits God ordained,
To stand the watchmen on the outer wall,
Upon whose souls the beams of truth first fall;
 They who reveal the ideal, the unattained,
And to their age, in stirring tones, and high,
Speak out for God, Truth, Man, and Liberty—
 Such prophets, do they die?

 When dust to dust returns,
And the freed spirit seeks again its God,
To those with whom the blessed ones have trod;
 Are they then lost? No, still their spirit burns
And quickens in the race; the life they give,
Humanity receives, and they survive,
 While Hope and Virtue live.

 The landmarks of their age,
High Priests, Kings of the realm of mind, are they,
A realm unbounded as posterity;
 The hopeful future is their heritage;