Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | II. A Statesman | By George Lunt (18031885) |
| STANCH at thy post, to meet lifes common doom, | |
It scarce seems death, to die as thou hast died; | |
Thy duty done, thy truth, strength, courage, tried, | |
And all things ripe for the fulfilling tomb! | |
A crown would mock thy hearses sable gloom, | 5 |
Whose virtues raised thee higher than a throne, | |
Whose faults were erring natures, not his own, | |
Such be thy sentence, writ with fames bright plume, | |
Amongst the good and great; for thou wast great, | |
In thought, word, deed,like mightiest ones of old, | 10 |
Full of the honest truth which makes men bold, | |
Wise, pure, firm, just;the noblest Romans state | |
Became not more a ruler of the free, | |
Than thy plain life, high thoughts, and matchless constancy! | | | |
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