Poems (Greenwood)/To a reformer
TO A REFORMER.
"Enthusiast," " Dreamer,"—such the names Thine age bestows on thee, For that great nature, going forth In world-wide sympathy; For the vision clear, the spirit brave, The honest heart and warm, And the voice which swells the battle-cry Of Freedom and Reform!
Yet, for thy fearless manliness, When weak time-servers throng,—Thy chivalrous defence of right, Thy bold rebuke of wrong,—And for the flame of liberty, Heaven-kindled in thy breast, Which thou hast fed like sacred fire, A blessing on thee rest!
'T is said thy spirit knoweth not Its times of calm and sleeping,That ever are its restless thoughts Like wild waves onward leaping. Then may its flashing waters Be tranquil never more,—They are "troubled" by an angel, Like the sacred pool of yore.