STERN be the pilot in the dreadful hour <br />When a great nation, like a ship at sea <br />With the wroth breakers whitening at her lee, <br />Feels her last shudder if her helmsman cower; <br />A godlike manhood be his mighty dower! <br />Such and so gifted, Lincoln, mayst thou be, <br />With thy high wisdom’s low simplicity <br />And awful tenderness of voted power. <br />From our hot records then thy name shall stand <br />On Time’s calm ledger out of passionate days— <br />With the pure debt of gratitude begun, <br />And only paid in never-ending praise— <br />One of the many of a mighty Land, <br />Made by God’s providence the Anointed One.<br /><br />John James Piatt<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-abraham-lincoln/
