Page:Poems Proctor.djvu/77

Nurtured for power, like the fabled charge
Of the gods, by Pelion's woody marge;
So lofty his eloquence, stately his mien,
That, could he have walked the Olympian plain,
The worshipping, wondering crowds had seen
Jove descend o'er the feast to reign!
And one, with a brow as Balder's fair,
And his life the grandeur of love and peace;—
Easing the burdens the race must bear,
Toiling for good that all might share,
Till his white soul found its glad release!
And one—a tall Corinthian column,
Of the temple of justice prop and pride—
The judge unstained, the patriot tried,
Gone to the bar supernal, solemn,
Nor left his peer by Themis' side!
Ah! when the Old World counts her kings,
And from splendor of castle and palace brings
The dainty lords her monarchies mould,
We'll turn to the hills and say, "Behold
Webster and Greeley and Chase for three
Princes of our democracy!"

Land of the cliff, the stream, the pine,
Blessing and honor and peace be thine!
Still may thy giant mountains rise.
Lifting their snows to the blue of June,
And the south wind breathe its tenderest sighs
Over thy fields in the harvest moon!
And the river of rivers, Merrimack.