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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET. A STATESMAN by GEORGE LUNT

First Line: STAUNCH AT THY POST, TO MEET LIFE'S COMMON DOOM
Last Line: THAN THY PLAIN LIFE, HIGH THOUGHTS AND MATCHLESS CONSTANCY.
Subject(s): DEATH; FAME; LEADERSHIP; DEAD, THE; REPUTATION;

STAUNCH at thy post, to meet life's common doom,
It scarce seems death, to die as thou hast died;
Thy duty done, thy truth, strength, courage, tried,
And all things ripe for the fulfilling tomb!
A crown would mock thy hearse's sable gloom,
Whose virtues raised thee higher than a throne,
Whose faults were erring Nature's, not his own,—
Such be thy sentence, writ with Fame's bright plume,
Amongst the good and great; for thou wast great,
In thought, word, deed,—like mightiest ones of old,—
Full of the honest truth, which makes men bold,
Wise, pure, firm, just; the noblest Roman's state
Became not more a Ruler of the free,
Than thy plain life, high thoughts and matchless constancy.



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