To William McKinley

(Martyred President of the United States.)

ONLY such words as Nobleness and Truth
     Rise to our lips at such an hour, to-day;
Great thoughts come rushing at the sudden ruth
     That broke upon the splendor of his way;
A score of years have hastened to their end
     Yet Memory, in tender flight, recalls
How all our hearts were broken for our friend
     As, swift, the fearful knowledge filled our halls.

O, kindly man, whose justice, strength and worth
     Failed never in the time of stress or need,
O, shining soul, whose warmth beamed o’er the earth
     How rich thy life, thy service and thy deed;
Let all America remembering, sing
Here was a man whom God had made a King.