The great man lives forever shrined in the hearts of men,

Albeit form and feature may fade from human ken;

Recorded are his actions on history’s living page —

They shine with purer lustre with each successive age.

Immortal aye immortal, undying as a God

The sands of time are printed wherever his feet have trod.

Above his dust no monument may proudly rear its head

To mark the spot where resteth, the mighty and the dead.

He needeth no mausoleum, nor shaft need pierce the sky

To point to coming ages, where his sacred ashes lie.

No! that may be forgotten, but around his glorious name

Will shine the dazzling halo of a never dying fame.

His requiem will be chanted in the wild bird’s sweetest song,

The summer breeze and wintry gale the sad notes will prolong,

The flowers of spring time and the leaves of autumn be his pall,

Long as the one shall blossom, long as the other fall.

Here is a noble lesson. Oh! let it graven be

In characters unfading on the page of memory.

Like the needle to the mariner amidst the tempest wrath

Let it fire your hopes and guide you as you tread life’s thorny path.