Sonett-Forum

TO BENJAMIN LUNDY.

Self-taught, unaided, poor, reviled, contemned —
Beset with enemies, by friends betrayed ;
As madman and fanatic oft condemned,
Yet in thy noble cause still undismayed !

Leonidas could not thy courage boast ;
Less num'rous were his foes, his band more strong ;
Alone, unto a more than Persian host,
Thou hast undauntedly given battle long.

Nor shalt thou singly wage th' unequal strife ;
Unto thy aid, with spear and shield, I rush,
And freely do I offer up my life,
And bid my heart's blood find a wound to gush !

New volunteers are trooping to the field —
To die we are prepared — but not an inch to yield !

TO THE MEMORY 'OF THE SAME.

Thank God, that though thy body Death has slain,
Thy quenchless spirit nothing could subdue ;
That though thou art removed from mortal view,
Thou livest ever more — and not in vain !

Our loss is but thine everlasting gain !
Of Freedom's friends, the truest of the true
Wast thou, as all her deadly foes well knew !
For bravely her good cause thou didst maintain.

No threats could move, no perils could appal,
No bribes seduce thee, in thy bright career :
O, many a fettered slave shall mourn thy fall,
And many a ransomed one let drop the tear ;
A Nation, wakened by thy trumpet-call —
The World itself — thy memory shall revere !