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[156] have seen no poem of his which does not contain the material of poetry—thought, feeling, fancy; but in few of them was the poet enabled to give his thought, feeling and fancy complete expression. A specimen or two of his poetry it would be an unpardonable omission not to give, in a volume like this, particularly as his poetic period is past.

The following is a tribute to the memory of one who was the ideal hero of his youthful politics. It was published in the first number of the New-Yorker:

On the death of William Wirt.

Rouse not the muffled drum,
Wake not the martial trumpet's mournful sound
For him whose mighty voice in death is dumb;
Who, in the zenith of his high renown,
To the grave went down.

Invoke no cannon's breath
To swell the requiem o'er his ashes poured—
Silently bear him to the house of death:—
The aching hearts by whom he was adored,
He won not with the sword.

No! let affection's tear
Be the sole tribute to his memory paid;
Earth has no monument so justly dear
To souls like his in purity arrayed—
Never to fade.

I loved thee, patriot Chief!
I battled proudly 'neath thy banner pure;
Mine is the breast of woe—the heart of grief,
Which suffer on unmindful of a cure—
Proud to endure.

But vain the voice of wail
For thee, from this dim vale of sorrow fled—


New York. Mason. Brothers. . 1855.

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