| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 602. To Abraham Lincoln |
| | | By John James Piatt |
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| STERN be the pilot in the dreadful hour | |
| When a great nation, like a ship at sea | |
| With the wroth breakers whitening at her lee, | |
| Feels her last shudder if her helmsman cower; | |
| A godlike manhood be his mighty dower! | 5 |
| Such and so gifted, Lincoln, mayst thou be, | |
| With thy high wisdom’s low simplicity | |
| And awful tenderness of voted power. | |
| From our hot records then thy name shall stand | |
| On Time’s calm ledger out of passionate days— | 10 |
| With the pure debt of gratitude begun, | |
| And only paid in never-ending praise— | |
| One of the many of a mighty Land, | |
Made by God’s providence the Anointed One.
1862. | |
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