"For aye mine emblem was, and aye shall be, The ever-during plant whose bough I wear, Brightest and greenest then, when every tree That blossoms in the light of Time is bare. "In the dark hour of shame, I deigned to stand "I brought the wise and brave of ancient days To cheer the cell where Raleigh pined alone: I lighted Milton's darkness with the blaze Of the bright ranks that guard the eternal throne. "And even so, my child, it is my pleasure That thou not then alone shouldst feel me nigh, "Not then alone, when myriads, closely pressed "No: when on restless night dawns cheerless morrow, When weary soul and wasting body pine, Thine am I still, in danger, sickness, sorrow, "Thine, where on mountain waves the snowbirds scream, Where more than Thule's winter barbs the breeze, Where scarce, through lowering clouds, one sickly gleam Lights the drear May-day of Antarctic seas; "Thine, when around thy litter's track all day White sandhills shall reflect the blinding glare; Thine, when, through forests breathing death, thy way All night shall wind by many a tiger's lair; "Thine most, when friends turn pale, when traitors fly, When, hard beset, thy spirit, justly proud, For truth, peace, freedom, mercy, dares defy "Amidst the din of all things fell and vile, Hate's yell, and envy's hiss, and folly's bray, "Yes: they will pass away; nor deem it strange : |