LAFAYETTE
What art thou, Time, that men take note of thee!
A boy in years, immortal Lafayette,
Ere he was ripe, put two worlds in his debt
Forevermore! darling of liberty,
He, like an angel, crossed the Atlantic sea,
Clothed on with morning, and, a herald, set
His shining feet where light and darkness met,—
Dead empires and democracies to be!
When first his footstep touched on that bright soil,
From time enfranchised, was his life complete;
Years could not add to him, nor take away;
One of the spiritual powers that, deathless, toil
In human hearts, when youth and glory meet
To bring the sacred dawn of Freedom's day.
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