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ON that black day when he who loved so well,
Had sought the presence of Supremest Love,
And naught remained us but to shut from sight
His dear, familiar semblance; in that hour,
A wave of mourning girdled all the earth.
But here among his people where he lay,
From East to West the solemn silence fell
That heard the beating of a Nation’s heart.
So to his memory would we consecrate
Our year’s first meeting. So, with reverence, would
We hush away the din of outer life,
With that same unity of heart-felt love,
And offer these sincerest tributes to
A manhood full of light, and, prism-wise,
All rich with vari-colored glow; to one
Whose well-lived life, whose death so undismayed,
Shine like God’s bow of promise in our sky.