For the character slowly erected
May be crushed by a hasty blow,
And the symmetry years have perfected
One moment may lay it low,
And the world that with look upgazing
Has stared at thy stainless name,
Perhaps with no word of praising,
Will cover thy past with blame.
May be crushed by a hasty blow,
And the symmetry years have perfected
One moment may lay it low,
And the world that with look upgazing
Has stared at thy stainless name,
Perhaps with no word of praising,
Will cover thy past with blame.
U. S. GRANT.
Dead! The swift wires brought the message,
And a Nation's grief replied,
Dead! Columbia's noblest hero
In the land he loved has died.
He who braved the fire of battle,
He who faced the storm of war,
He who vanquished mighty armies,
Earth's most honored conqueror.
Mourn Columbia, o'er thy waters
Sounds the death knell of thy brave,
Droop thy proud old flag in sadness,
"Tis the flag he fought to save;
He shall sleep where none may waken,
In the land he loved so well;
But thy unborn generations
Shall his deeds of valor tell.
Over Orient lands he traveled,
Foreign nations made him room,
Heathen empires spread before him
And a Nation's grief replied,
Dead! Columbia's noblest hero
In the land he loved has died.
He who braved the fire of battle,
He who faced the storm of war,
He who vanquished mighty armies,
Earth's most honored conqueror.
Mourn Columbia, o'er thy waters
Sounds the death knell of thy brave,
Droop thy proud old flag in sadness,
"Tis the flag he fought to save;
He shall sleep where none may waken,
In the land he loved so well;
But thy unborn generations
Shall his deeds of valor tell.
Over Orient lands he traveled,
Foreign nations made him room,
Heathen empires spread before him
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