Poetry Archives

Read before the Sons of the Revolution, New-York, February 22, 1887


Sons of the youth and the truth of the nation,
  Ye that are met to remember the man
Whose valor gave birth to a people’s salvation,
  Honor him now; set his name in the van.
    A nobleness to try for,
    A name to live and die for—
      The name of Washington.

Calmly his face shall look down through the ages—
  Sweet yet severe with a spirit of warning;
Charged with the wisdom of saints and of sages;
  Quick with the light of a life-giving morning.
    A majesty to try for,
    A name to live and die for—
      The name of Washington!

Though faction may rack us, or party divide us,
  And bitterness break the gold links of our story,
Our father and leader is ever beside us.
  Live, and forgive! But forget not the glory
    Of him whose height we try for,
    A name to live and die for—
      The name of Washington!

Still in his eyes shall be mirrored our fleeting
  Days, with the image of days long ended;
Still shall those eyes give, immortally, greeting
  Unto the souls from his spirit descended.
    His grandeur we will try for,
    His name we ‘ll live and die for—
      The name of Washington!