Henry Wadsworth Longfellow — Charles Sumner

       &nbsp Garlands upon his grave,        &nbsp And flowers upon his hearse, And to the tender heart and brave        &nbsp The tribute of this verse.        &nbsp His was the troubled life,        &nbsp The conflict and the pain, The grief, the bitterness of strife,        &nbsp The honor without stain.        &nbsp Like Winkelried, he took        &nbsp Into his manly breast The sheaf of hostile spears, and broke        &nbsp A path for the oppressed.        &nbsp Then from the fatal field        &nbsp Upon a nation's heart Borne like a warrior on his shield!—        &nbsp So should the brave depart.        &nbsp Death takes us by surprise,        &nbsp And stays our hurrying feet; The great design unfinished lies,        &nbsp Our lives are incomplete.        &nbsp But in the dark unknown        &nbsp Perfect their circles seem, Even as a bridge's arch of stone        &nbsp Is rounded in the stream.        &nbsp Alike are life and death,        &nbsp When life in death survives, And the uninterrupted breath        &nbsp Inspires a thousand lives.        &nbsp Were a star quenched on high,        &nbsp For ages would its light, Still travelling downward from the sky,        &nbsp Shine on our mortal sight.        &nbsp So when a great man dies,        &nbsp For years beyond our ken, The light he leaves behind him lies        &nbsp Upon the paths of men.