The writings of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume 3.
John Greenleaf Whittier, Ed.

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[110] O my brothers! O my sisters!
     Would to God that ye were near,
Gazing with me down the vistas
     Of a sorrow strange and drear;
Would to God that ye were listeners to the Voice
     I seem to hear!

With the storm above us driving,
     With the false earth mined below,
Who shall marvel if thus striving
     We have counted friend as foe;
Unto one another giving in the darkness blow for blow.

Well it may be that our natures
     Have grown sterner and more hard,
And the freshness of their features
     Somewhat harsh and battle-scarred,
And their harmonies of feeling overtasked and rudely jarred.

Be it so. It should not swerve us
     From a purpose true and brave;
Dearer Freedom's rugged service
     Than the pastime of the slave;
Better is the storm above it than the quiet of the grave.

Let us then, uniting, bury
     All our idle feuds in dust,
And to future conflicts carry
     Mutual faith and common trust;
Always he who most forgiveth in his brother is most just.