26.12.2010, 15:25
POSSIBLE RESULTS OF THE FRIENDS' MISSION
TO ST. PETERSBURG.
In the Message of Alexander II.
to Congress at the beginning of the war.
Whatever be the meaning of that creed
Of the poke-bonnet and the ample brim,
Still in the shoes of truth the Quakers tread,
When they denounce our wars : forget the prim
Staid aspect of these worthy gentlemen,
While purely, honestly, for peace they plead ;
Nor think it shame to propagate the seed
Sown by the sober hands of William Penn ;
Perchance—when to that Northern court they went,
They left some saddening thoughts of death and war ;
And can we think their words were idly spent,
If that sweet message of the younger Czar
To deaf Americans, were meant to endorse,
By the son's act, the father's late remorse ?
Prove his own love of peace and sanction theirs,
The very quaintness of that precedent,
Which sought to baulk a warrior-king's intent
By quiet looks, and unofficial prayers, —
Blended with somewhat chivalrous and bold,
Even in the very act of their appeal
To him, full autocrat from head to heel,
Sworn to his own great plans, a lifetime old —
Might hit his fancy with a pleasant zest.
Might haunt his memory with a dim control,
Among a thousand thoughts the last and best,
While that stern leaguer of Sebastopol
Alternately exalted, and dcprest.
Day after day, the balance of his soul.
TO ST. PETERSBURG.
In the Message of Alexander II.
to Congress at the beginning of the war.
Whatever be the meaning of that creed
Of the poke-bonnet and the ample brim,
Still in the shoes of truth the Quakers tread,
When they denounce our wars : forget the prim
Staid aspect of these worthy gentlemen,
While purely, honestly, for peace they plead ;
Nor think it shame to propagate the seed
Sown by the sober hands of William Penn ;
Perchance—when to that Northern court they went,
They left some saddening thoughts of death and war ;
And can we think their words were idly spent,
If that sweet message of the younger Czar
To deaf Americans, were meant to endorse,
By the son's act, the father's late remorse ?
Prove his own love of peace and sanction theirs,
The very quaintness of that precedent,
Which sought to baulk a warrior-king's intent
By quiet looks, and unofficial prayers, —
Blended with somewhat chivalrous and bold,
Even in the very act of their appeal
To him, full autocrat from head to heel,
Sworn to his own great plans, a lifetime old —
Might hit his fancy with a pleasant zest.
Might haunt his memory with a dim control,
Among a thousand thoughts the last and best,
While that stern leaguer of Sebastopol
Alternately exalted, and dcprest.
Day after day, the balance of his soul.