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LgRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 016 117 580 8 ^ 
 
PS 1999 
 
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 ^LECrlA^C ODE: 
 
 ItKllTKl) ]!V 
 
 JAMES BAllliON llOTE 
 
 ON' TlIK Ol'CASKI.V OK 
 
 COMPLF/riNd THE MONUMENT 
 
 KRKCTKn liV TIIK 
 
 LADIES OF WARREN COUNTY, N. C. 
 
 OVKU TIIK liKM.UNS OF 
 
 ANNIE CAKTEU LEE. 
 
 RICHMOND : 
 
 EXAMINER JOB PRINT, 
 1866. 
 

 
 TO THE 
 
 LADIES OF WARREN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, 
 
 AND 
 
 THROUGH THEM, 
 
 TO 
 
 (lb he "iV^mfu tif iht ^i)uiU, 
 
 AS A 
 
 SLIGHT EVIDENCE 
 
 OF THK 
 
 RESPECT AND ADMIRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 ■QT. ^ t St u t ij r . 
 
rREFATORY LETTER. 
 
 NORFOLK, Octol.or lOtli, ISGfi. 
 \fY Dkar Maoam : 
 
 As a slight ovideiiee of iny cordial sympatliy with the pious task 
 you and your associates liave assnnu'd, and my lively recollection of 
 your great ])ersonal kindness to nic when an inmate of the Hospital 
 which you cheered by your presence, I beg leave to place at j'our dis- 
 l)osal the accompanying MS. 
 
 Jn doing this 1 trust you will not hold nie guiUy of egotism if I re- 
 uiark to you, and through you to my readers, that this Poem was 
 written in the midst of engrossing labors on a daily paper ; and upon 
 a notice so short (from the 26th July to the 8th of August) as to ren- 
 der it less worthy the occasion than it might have been had T possessed 
 more ample leisure for its composition. 
 
 I now transmit it to you in the form in which it was recited, and 
 beg you when yon mark ils defects, to bear in mind that my position 
 was one of peculiar delicacy; the time allowed me short; and the 
 Ode itself composed to be spoken : but this I may say, that if my 
 l)erformance could have given expression to my feelings, it would not 
 have required so elaborate an apology for its imperfections, as that 
 with which it is now sent to you. by 
 
 Your friend and oliedient servant, 
 
 JAMES BARKOX HOPE. 
 To Mrs. TjKWis X. AVkhh. President Hollywood Memorial Association, 
 
 Hichniond. 
 
[KDiTOTn.vr, conn^si'ON'DKN'CK OF TirK xoiiror.K \>\x isdok.] 
 
 TIIK LEE MEMORIAL— MONUMENT TO THE MEMOI!V OF 
 ANNIE CARTER LEE. 
 
 Ar.vRREX Coi'NTV, August t), LSCO. 
 
 THE MEMORIAL CEREMONIES. 
 
 The eighth of August was the day named by the (duiuiittco of 
 arrangements for the completion of the monument wliiclr now hfts 
 itsi'lf above the remains of Axxie (Lvkter Lek. 
 
 Ik'fore tlic eeremonials of the d;iy began, I cantered over to view 
 tile spot, held in such tender revereiu'e by us all. My way lay through 
 a ))ine forest, whose growth gradually gave i)lace to a breadth of lordly 
 oaks. Here and there several brooks, like silver threads, crossed the 
 road, which, gently undulating, at last opens upon the crest of a bold 
 ridge. On emerging from the woods, I confess that I was snr]n-ised at 
 the sight I beheld. In the centre of this broad plateau, which has 
 been cleared for the space of several acres and carefully rolled until 
 its grassy slopes arc almost lawn-like, a clump of stately trees rise, 
 spreading their great arms like jiriests in benediction over the (pnet 
 burial ground, which was yesterday consecrated by blessings from a 
 multitude of reverential hearts. 
 
 "GOD'S ACRE." 
 
 The grave yard is a parallelogram seventy-one by fifty feet in extent, 
 and is enclosed by an iron railing, firmly set in granite sills, supported 
 by granite columns, at once strong, tasteful and simple. Here I found 
 a group of country gentlemen, masons and field hanils, engaged in the 
 final preparations. Various teams were busy dragging great branches 
 of jiines over the road and sward ; and I was particularly struck by 
 the profinnid silence which reigned over the scene. Even the faces of 
 the negroes w<n'e an expression of gravity and decorum. Here I dis- 
 mounted, and was received by .Tosepii S. Joxe?, Esquire, who must 
 
8 
 
 ))ai(loii nie if I venture to give him a prominence wliich may pain his 
 modesty. My apology for tliis, as indeetl, for my general treatment 
 of the sul)ject, is fomul in the fact that the ceremonials of yesterday 
 have become a part of our domestic history ; and hence I feel author- 
 ized to speak of private individuals with a freedom -which, muler 
 other circumstances would not be justified. Two years ago Mr. Jones, 
 in whose ancestral grave yard the monmiient now rises, conceived the 
 idea of its erectidu. The tirst stcji was to obtain a competent mason 
 to do the work, and at that date, in tlie very agony of the Confederacy's 
 struggle, this was no easy task. Tliere was one man whom he might 
 olitain, and he determined to make the effort. The stone mason whose 
 services he desired to secure, was an invalid soldier of the Forty-sixth 
 North Carolina Infantry, and there is a story which he tells himself 
 with touching simplicity that illustrates one of General Lee's noble 
 traits of character, and it may, therefore, fairly claim a place here. 
 It has its historic wortli, as will be seen. 
 
 Zekral Crowder was a broken-down soldier. Unfit for active ser- 
 vice, he was detailed as a "light duty"' man, and failing daily in 
 health he wrote to General Lke himself, asking instructions as to the 
 proper mode to pursue in order to have his application for a discharge 
 acted on by the War Department. In reply lie received a letter of 
 minute instructions, with a line or two of kind and cheering words at 
 the bottom of the page in the General's autograph. This paper he 
 ))reserves with i)iuus care, and he cherishes it as a precious evidence 
 of the tender sym[)athy v>hich our gieat Captain felt for the huni])]est 
 (if his followers. 
 
 in the meantime, however, Mr. .JoxES applied to General Bkaco lor 
 the detail of the sick soldier, which was at once granted by that 
 officer, in consideration of the reason assigned in the application of 
 Mr. Jones. Discharged from the army, and with health partly re- 
 estabhshed, the grateful mason began his labors, the results of whicli 
 I see before me. 
 
 THE LETTERS. 
 
 By the time the monument was completed, the fame of the enter- 
 prise had gone abroad, and the limits originally set by the managers 
 to the consecration ceremonies, expanded day by day, in obedience to 
 tlie wishes of the symi)athetic public. 
 
 The narrow circle of those originally invited was gradually enlarged, 
 and I have now before me a mass of letters wjiieh would 1»e of price- 
 less value to an autograph hunter. 
 
 Among these I have the invitation from the ladies to General Lee, 
 from which I venture to extract a beautiful passage congratulating 
 liiin on the escape of his sons and himself from the perils of battle 
 and disease. It rnns as follows : 
 
 •'Through the kindness and mercy of (lur Heavenly Father, your 
 gallant sons fought the good fight even to the end, and you w^'re spared 
 
9 
 
 amid tlic sliock of battle aiul its horrid oanuip;e for four long years. 
 Spared to us, a giateful people, who feel linked to you in the closest 
 ties of friendship and the closest bonds of sympathy. 
 
 " AVc cannot honor you witli too deep a reverence, nor love you 
 with an afiectiou too pure and fervent. You have a home in every 
 lieart, a welconu:^ in every household, and the Mhispcr of your name 
 echoes a thousand blessings upon you and yours. " 
 
 In this the sweet and noble-hearted women of Warren county have 
 Justly set forth the sentiments of our entire people ; and even as their 
 elo(]uent Avords have given utterance to the feelings of the eleven 
 Boadiceas of the South, so did their act of tender homage to the dead 
 confirm their warm and affectionate sympathy expressed for the living. 
 
 I told up General Lee's letter, noble in manly simplicity and Chris- 
 tian truth, with a reverence which all will understand, and so pass on. 
 
 THE MONUMENT 
 
 Is (Jreco-Egyptian in its style; a Doric base surmounted by an 
 obelisk. It is, to quote from the letter of the ladies to General Lee, 
 ■■A plain and simple shaft, sculptured from (their) native granite by 
 an invalid Confederate soldier, whom General Bragg in his kindness 
 detailed for this purpose. The whole structure rises to the height of 
 about sixteen feet, and in its severe simplicity harmonizes well with 
 the adverse destiny of those by whose alfection it has been erected. 
 It bears the following inscriptions : 
 
 Front. "AxxiE C. Lee, DArcHTER of Gexekai. R. E. Lee axd Makv 
 Cakter Lee. " 
 
 Side."BoRX at Arlixgton, Juxe 18th, 1839, axd Died at the 
 White Suli'hik Sprixgs, Warrex Couxty, N. C, October 20th. 
 1862." 
 
 Reverse. '• Perfect axd true are all his ways, 
 
 Whom ueavex adores axd earth obeys. " 
 
 These lines, breathing the humble trust in which she died, are taken 
 from the hymn which she reiiuested those about her to sing as she 
 entered into the Valley of the Shadow. The blessed peace and calm. 
 the trusting ho))e and earnest faith which they si)eak, must carry 
 unspeakable comfort to the hearts of those whom she has left for a brief 
 season. 
 
 The intention originally was to erect the monument noiselessly ; but 
 the people of Warren, anxit)us to manifest their love and reverence 
 Ibr the great and good man lirst in their hearts, gradtuilly came for- 
 ward to claim the rigiit of participating in the pious work, until it 
 became necessary to appoint executive committees to conduct it. 
 Thus through the spontaneous affection of the people was the man- 
 agement of the task taken from individual hands, soon to be carried 
 f vcn beyond the bounds contemplated by the committees themselves. 
 
10 
 
 Tlic iiiovi'inciit tliiis urf;;;mized was coiitrnlled, or latluT llu.' piiMic 
 ini)»uLso was olicycd ]>y tliC followiiif^- coiiuuittecs : 
 
 Oil the piiit of tlic ladies, by Mrs. Joseph E. . Tones, Mrs. Tlioiiias 
 Carroll, Mrs. Browiilow, Miss M. Alston, Miss M. Suniiiiorville, Mrs. 
 S. M, Heck and Mrs. Luoiiida Jones. 
 
 The gentlemen of 'Warren were represented hv Colonel ^V. J. 
 (Jreen, Dr. Geo. Field, John Watson, Dr. S. (i. Ward, Colonel J. M. 
 Heek, J. S. Jones, Colonel Win. Cheek, D. W. J. Hawkins, Hon. W. 
 N. Kdwards, Wm. Eaton, Jr., Win. T. Alston. Turner Baltle, T. A. 
 Thornton, Peter E. Davis, Henry B. Hunter, Kiehard Arrington, J. 
 Buxton Williams, Dr. Thos. J. Pitehford, James T. Turttv and N. 
 M alone. 
 
 THE GATHERING. 
 
 The Committees were undoubtedly as mneh surprised as the present 
 ^\■riter at tlie throng which began to assemble at an early hour. Vir- 
 ginia and North Carolina were well represented, and all classes assem- 
 bled, according to the published order of the Committee, at JoxksV 
 yi>rings. The roadway was blocked for hundreds of yards with 
 vehicles, and the l)eautifnl lawn was densely crowded by a great con- 
 course of people, who moved about, or sat under the trees in a silence 
 as unusual as it was painful in so dense a throng. 
 
 In the drawing-room of the hotel, Generals William H. F. and 
 CusTis Lee, together with General Cox, and other distinguished visi- 
 tors, awaited the organization of 
 
 THE PROCESSION. 
 
 At the appointed hour Colonel Green gave the order to form, and 
 the great body of peojile began noiselessly to arrange themselves in 
 order. The representatives of the family, the clergy and invited 
 guests, took their seats in carriages at the head of the column, and 
 the long line of carriages moved off, followed by those on foot. I was 
 of the first to arrive at the spot, and here were great numbers from 
 all the adjoining country, already assembled. Some idea of the length 
 of the in-ocession may be formed from the fact that from the time the 
 head of the column arrived npon the ground, till the last carriage 
 drove up, occupied forty minutes. The assembly was estimated at 
 between twelve and sixteen hundred, and the density of the crowd 
 may be imagined when I state, that on that breezy hill three ladies 
 tainted during the ceremonies, overpowered by the heat and excite- 
 ment. 
 
 THE CEREMONIES, 
 
 A flight of steps rested against the monument, and a low platform 
 was erected at its base. The Rev. Dr. Hodges, Rector of the Parish ; 
 Rev. Dr. Pritchakd, and the Rev. Mr. Solomox, were present; and 
 tlie lirst named gentleman celebrated the service. It was brief and 
 
11 
 
 impressive. The mason wliose chisel had cut tlic stone, assisted by 
 liis son, at a siirnal from Doctor IIodgks, placed the funeral urn upon 
 the summit of the sluil't; descended; removed their ladder; fell hack 
 witli soldierly i)recision into tlie throng; and then the a-ood Pastor 
 read from the boolc of Common Prayer some apjjroiiriate selections 
 full of wholesome truth and sublime consolation. 
 
 At the end of liis consecration of the spot, Captain Horn, in accord- 
 ance with the wish of the ladies of Warren, recited an Elegiac Ode, 
 of which it only becomes the present writer to say, that he discharged 
 his duty with unspeakable reverence. At the conclusion of the reci- 
 tation, "the Kev. ^Ir. Solomon- dismissed tlie assembly in a few simple 
 words, and the great throng melted away from the "crest of the hill, 
 bound to the four points of tlic compass. 
 
 " T.ow on the sand and loud on tlie stone 
 The Ijst wheel (eclioed) away. " 
 
 I was among the last to leave the spot. As I stood there, I thought, 
 witli melancholy i)leasure, that I had that day seen another bond of 
 adection woven bi'twcen the two nolile States, which, in war and 
 peace, have froided the same dangers, and now share the same des- 
 tiny- with a fortitude which will be the admiration of succeeding gen- 
 erations. When I turned away from the monument, which expresses 
 not only love for the dead, but reverence of the living, I took a last 
 look at the beautiful landscape, with its dark forests and undulating 
 liiils, full of tramiuil beauty ; and I thought, as I rode hack to my 
 quarters, that the austerity of the grave is rarely softened by a more 
 lienignant aspect on the face of nature than that which smiles around 
 the resting place of AxxiE Carter Lee. H. 
 
ODE 
 
 I. 
 Upon my journey liitluM-ward I crossed 
 
 A sliining stream, liorn of tlie silver rills 
 Which, in the distant puri)le Ridi^e, are lost 
 -Amid Virginia's hills. 
 
 Onwanl it flows, nor once its fovce ahates, 
 That gleamins: river, kissing clifl" and lea, 
 
 A l)onil, dear friends, hetwcen our noble States, 
 It sweeps on to the sea. 
 
 Enriching all your spreading lowland fields, 
 EnrieluMl, in turn. l)y hcjiring on its l)reast, 
 
 The liounties whicli y<iur agi'iciiltnre yields 
 From glebes with Avealth oppresseJ. 
 
14 
 
 And on that tide which from Anri;-iiiia starts — 
 
 Born wliere tlie mountain stroamlots fret and foam, 
 
 Tliis ■\vealtli, in part, sweeps on to Norffdk's marts. 
 The citv of mv home. 
 
 But there are other bonds, far stronger ties 
 Than mutual traffic ever can create ; 
 
 Here sculptured proof rises before our e\^es 
 Of love from State to State. 
 
 Here Carolina comes, her brave elieeks warm 
 And wet with tears, to take in cluirge this dust, 
 
 And l)rino;s her daughters to receive in form 
 Virginia's sacred trust. 
 
 Poor in all else, but rich in graves, my State 
 Folds Carolina's cliildren in hei- l)reast, 
 
 And fronting witli a royal brow lier fate 
 She watches where thev rest. 
 
15 
 
 Her (laiiglitci'M ti) those luislied ciu-auipiHeuts go. 
 Where sokliers sleep, but where no banners wave. 
 
 Both States like sisters pierced by common Avoe 
 Kow guard each other's graves. 
 
 II. 
 And in this graveyard we have food for thought, 
 
 Here, too, are problems which must give us pause- 
 Problems which God's wise rrovidencc hath wrought 
 Through His beniirnant laws. 
 
 AVe stand here in this Summer silence deep 
 Like swimmers lialting on the sud<len brink 
 
 Of some dark river, whose mysterious sweep, 
 Though voiceless, bids us think ! 
 
 We think on life's harsh facts and broken dreams, 
 Its lights and shadows nnide of hopes and fears. 
 
 And feel that Death is kinder than he seems, 
 And uot the King of Tears, 
 
16 
 
 Gazing aroiiml in)()ii this tran(|uil scene. 
 
 Where shady wood-huuls stretch in vernal pride. 
 
 Where wave the fiehls in tender hues oF green, 
 With lite on every side. 
 
 Wo read a lesson in (lod's open Book ; 
 
 All the fair page with one great text is rife, 
 And though we run we yet read in one look 
 
 That death but leads to life. 
 
 The trees which lift their crests against the sky. 
 The harvests rippling in the heated breath 
 
 Of every breeze which Morn or No(jn swee[)s Iiy. 
 Themselves were born of <leath. 
 
 The acorn held yon oak — the cone yon pine — 
 The ilinty corn contained its tassels' mane. 
 
 These in the earth through God's all-wise design 
 Have for a season lain, 
 
17 
 
 111 the cold ea.rtli tliese soods wont to decay: 
 Then, lo I tluTo came a (jiod-directed change- 
 
 A cliange wliicli, cavrieil on ])y niglit and day, 
 In workings liid and stranirc — 
 
 Bringetli great glory to the face of earth, 
 
 In pomp of trees, and hlooms, and waving corn, 
 \\ liieli in decay :tll find a second hii'tli 
 .( M" dissolntion horn. 
 
 III. 
 And as we view each green, pathetic sod 
 
 ■\[onndc(l in order like successive waves 
 
 Crested with marhle ; or, with gi'ass from (iod 
 
 To heautifv the <i;ruves : 
 
 Some here whose hearts liave been of tears the wells, 
 ^\ hose dreams have changed from rose to sol)er hrown, 
 
 Might envy those who foundered "neath those swells 
 Which show where thev went down ; 
 
18 
 
 Ami, licncc I said, tliinking of voutli's Avild dreams, 
 Its lights and shadoAVs made of hopes and fears, 
 
 Tiiat, Dcatli, oh, friends I is kinder tlian he seems 
 And not the King of Tears. 
 
 IV. 
 Think not I take a false view of this life ; 
 
 I trust I read it as is meet and fit : 
 
 I try to understand the pain and strife 
 
 Wherewith 'tis all o'erwrit. 
 
 And through our journey eaeli must bear his load 
 From the flushed Morn 'till Even's sober hours, 
 
 And thorns will pierce us all along the road 
 Where we had looked for flowers. 
 
 But he who these sharp lessons rightly heeds. 
 Accepts the thorns in place of painted bloom, 
 
 And learns through all the anguish, as he bleeds, 
 To hold the silent tomb 
 
19 
 
 But as tlio 1)0(1 Avlioro, cliastened in our pride. 
 Made pure l)y sorroAV and affliction's rod. 
 
 Our Iranies, like seeds, shall lay their husks aside. 
 That they may i^row t'^vartl Ootl. 
 
 lie chastens lis as nations and as men, 
 
 lie smites us sore until our pride doth yield, 
 
 And hence our heroes, each "witli hearts fo]- ten, 
 Were vanquished in the field : 
 
 And stand to-day heneath our Southern sun 
 O'erthrown in battle and dispoiled of ho])e, 
 
 Their drums all silent and their cause uiulone, 
 And tliey all left to grope 
 
 In darkness till God"s own appointed time 
 In His own manner passeth fully hy. '" 
 
 Our Penance this. His Parahle sul)lime 
 Means we must learn to die. 
 
 * A (Vioiid, liimsclf a poet of no iiieaii ordtT, has i)oiiited out to nie 
 the fact tliat these lines might be distorted to l)ear a political niean- 
 ing, a<rainst whicii use of them 1 protest, and refer to the stanzas 
 wliicli follow to vindicate the text from such a perversion. 
 
20 
 
 Not as our soldiers died l»onent]i t]ieir flnojs, 
 Not as ill tumult and in Mood tliey fell. 
 
 When from their columns, cdad in homelv rau-s, 
 Rose the ( Nmfeilcrate veil. 
 
 Not as they died, tliough never moi'tal men 
 Since "^fuhal (Jain first forged Ids cruel blade 
 
 Fouii-ht as thev foni>-ht, nor ever shall ao-en 
 Such Leader l)e oheved '. 
 
 No, not as died our knightly, soldier dead. 
 
 Though they, I trust, Invvc louiid ahove surcease 
 
 For all life's troubles, l)ut on ('lirisiian l>ed 
 Should wc depart in peace, 
 
 Falling asleep like those whose gentle deed.s 
 
 Are governed through time's passions and its strife, 
 
 80 justly thai we might erect new creeds 
 From each well ordered life. 
 
21 
 
 Whose saintly lessons are so frauuMl that ^vo 
 ]May learn that pain is but a text sublime, 
 
 Teaching us liow to learn at Sorrow's knee 
 To value thincrs of time. 
 
 TIius thinking o'er life's promise-break ing (hx'ams, 
 Its lights and shadows made of hopes and fears, 
 1 say that Death is kinder than he seems, 
 - And not the King of Tears. 
 
 V. 
 Mark you each separate spear of tufted grass ! 
 
 Ik'hoM eaeli (lower which opens astral eyes I 
 
 See how they point us like the Host at mass 
 
 Toward the ([uiet skies I 
 
 ^Vliy shrink, then, fi'om the tender grave aghast? 
 
 Why shod hot tears above its friendly sod ? 
 For, is it not, in sooth, oh iViends I the last 
 
 (xreat Charitv from (iod? 
 
99 
 
 Let perfect Faith Mud iij) eaeli bleeding heart, 
 Smile tlirough your tears upon its grassy slopes. 
 
 Since Christ hath slumbered may we not depart 
 Sustained by Christian hope ? 
 
 VI, 
 The realms of Nature and of Art are rich 
 
 In images of blessed peace and calm 
 
 In -which this^^ard may well be figured^which 
 
 May sooth us like a Psalm, 
 
 Chanted at evening by the silver notes 
 
 Of singing children, watched by mother's eyes. 
 
 When some confession of the Hebrew floats 
 Toward the tranquil skies. 
 
 'Tis like an Ab]>ey with the monks in cells, 
 The nuns invisi1)le, all pair and fair, 
 
 Wliere no Laudamus on the silence swells — 
 All still as if at prayer. 
 
OQ 
 
 And as the AbKcv in the (lavs of oM 
 
 Offered vepose to men vvIkmi sore oppressed 
 
 So dotli the eliaritalde rfi'avc unf"(dd 
 For lis a bed of rest. 
 
 Thus musing o'er life's prol)lenis in my dreams, 
 
 This radiant hope dispels niy timid fears, 
 And whispers death is kinder than he seems, 
 " And not the Kinor of Tears. 
 
 There is no death : surcease we liave from strife. 
 
 There is no death : absence there is I know. 
 There is no death, but everlasting life. 
 
 Banish that Avord of woe. 
 
 in speaking of the pure in life, for lie 
 
 AYhose Son for us was nailed upon the cross 
 
 Hath told us surely : " For the good set free 
 This life were but a loss. '' 
 
24 
 
 Sueli lan<j;iiago comos Avitliin ilio Evangel's scope, 
 Wliieli tells us of our tender blasters care 
 
 Who died to give us an undying ho])e. 
 And stimulant to prayer. 
 
 Four Summers now have waked the songs of l)ird^ 
 Made violets hlow and stained the roses red, 
 
 Since first we heard the unenliglitened words 
 That Annie Lee was dead. 
 
 Heed not the words which those pain-stricken said 
 The lips of those wdio spoke them were enticed 
 
 In griefs first passion to declare her dead 
 Who Avas the "Bride of Christ." 
 
 Ye who then whispered of it in your halls, 
 Might envy her of Avhom ye heard the tale, 
 
 That she within this monastery's Avails 
 That day put on her veil. 
 
25 
 
 Yes, you, my friends, wlio stand with me to pay 
 Your liouiaco to the dust hi'iieatli this sod, 
 
 Miglit envy her who journeyed on that (hi}^ 
 To meet a smilino- God. 
 
 With all lier wealtli of womanhood— her trutli- 
 
 ller innocence and ])urity oi" life — 
 In the full promise of her golden youth, 
 - Witli all perfection rife, 
 
 She left the sorrows of this trouhled sphere. 
 Escaped the tumults which distract the land 
 
 A radiant Angel whispered in her ear. 
 And God stretched forth his hand. 
 
 Her gentle spirit now is throned ahove, 
 
 And hence, I say, you need not tell in tears 
 
 Beads counted on the Rosarie of Love 
 For her heyond the sj)heres. 
 
2G 
 
 Against such candid spirits, wliose worst ends 
 Had Virtue's sanction, deatli cannot prevail, 
 
 And so I said to you but nov* ', oh friends ! 
 That here she took the vcih 
 
 VII. 
 Here, in this Cloister, hushed hy a great spell 
 
 The monks and nuns ;ill find surcease from care 
 
 And rest themselves, each in a narrow cell. 
 
 All still as if at prayer ! 
 
 And though the Abbey in the days of old 
 Was a retreat to sooth the trouble<l breast, 
 
 Still it had days of purple and of gold 
 To break its tranquil rest. 
 
 On some high festival the minster's stalls 
 W;ere broken in their customary calms, 
 
 And long processions from its sacred walls 
 Pourc<I out with chanted Psalms. 
 
27 
 
 Mitre and Crosier "mid the vocal bands 
 
 O'er Avhieli tlie gazer saAV their banners top, 
 
 While borne aloft by consccrate<l hands 
 Blazed the atoning cross. 
 
 On the Last Day, as the Apostle tells, 
 
 God gathers all from graves of land and sea, 
 
 Then monks and nuns will (luicken on their cells 
 To immortality. 
 
 And there amid those radiant, white-stoled nuns, 
 In a great sea of glory and of grace 
 
 From (Jod's own smile, brighter than many suns 
 Shall shine this maiden's face. 
 
 VIII. 
 And as the long procession 
 
 Saileth up will swell on high 
 
 Their Ilymn of Intercession 
 
 For the souls not born to die : 
 
 Christc Mediator Nostcr ! 
 
28 
 
 Day of Grace, and Day of AVonder I 
 
 Amid elemental thunder 
 
 Christ hath burst the grave asunder, 
 
 And ascended to the sky ! 
 There he standeth — there he bleedeth, 
 There he with the Father pleadeth. 
 
 Praying that we may not die. 
 Knowing what each sinner ncedcth, 
 Tenderly He interccdeth 
 
 That death of death may pass us hy. 
 
 And as we, in terror quaking, 
 
 Start at that august awaking, 
 
 There shall rise from all who've slumbered, 
 
 With this Sainted Maiden numbered. 
 
 Loud and long th' imploring cry : 
 Christe Mediator Nosier ! ^ 
 
 " Save us, Master, or we die ! '" 
 
 And our Master then will hear us. 
 Tenderly He will draw near us, 
 
29 
 
 Graciously lie will upltear us, 
 Those who did not sin to die. 
 
 Christe Mediator Nostci\ 
 
 We beseech Thee guard and foster 
 
 Those who loved her, and who lost her 
 
 In Thy wise benificencc : 
 Silent under Thy infliction, 
 Give them, Christ, Thy benediction ! 
 Hear this humble supplication — 
 Earnest, yearning imploration 
 From the wrung heart of a nation 
 
 Thou hast stricken to the dust ! 
 
 In Thy hands we put this trust : 
 Father of our second birth. 
 
 As thou guardest her in Heaven, 
 Guard the Parents upon Earth. 
 
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