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Sonnet in 1862
xxxiii
BY JOHN JAMES PLATT.
When a great nation, like a ship at sea
With the wroth breakers whitening at her lee,
Feels her last shudder if her Helsman cower;
A godlike manhood be his mighty dower!
Such and so gifted, Lincoln may'st thou be
With thy high wisdom's low simplicity
And awful tenderness of voted power:
From our hot records then thy name shall stand
On time's calm ledger out of passionate days
With the pure debt of gratitude begun,
And only paid in never-ending praise --
One of the many of a mighty Land,
Made by God's providence the Anointed One.