Our Departed President

All the thrilling wires were trembbling [sic],
     With their messages of grief,
Bearing to the startled millions tidings of their prostrate chief.
     ’Till from ocean unto ocean flashing with the lightning s peed [sic],
Every hamlet, every hearthstone heard the foul assassin’s deed.

As if poised upon the balance hangs the chance of life or death,
Seventy-five million souls are waiting, listening with bated breath.
Men of strength and courage falter,
     Women weep and children cry,
And from every household altar,
     Fervent prayers ascend on high.

Ne’er before the listening heavens,
     Heard such universal prayers,
Mid the fertile fields and valleys,
     Of his own fair native State,
And beyond the rocky summits of the white Sierra crest,
     Rich with sympathy and pity
Beats the strong pulse of the West.

Blending with the mountain echo,
     To the nation’s cry of pain,
Swells the calm Pacific chorus,
     Taking up the sad refrain.
From the lovely sun kissed valleys,
     Of the orange shaded home of the South,
A thrilling murmur full of love and pity comes,

     For the great heart of the nation,
With the suffering of its chieftan [sic],
     Beats in sympathy profound.
O! the sympathy of sorrow, O the charity of love!
     Lifting up our better nature’s [sic],
All our groser [sic] selves above

Making manhood seem more Christ-like,
     Through the ministry they bring,
Stealing o’er us like the shadow of an angel’s shining wing.
     And our kindred ties grow stronger,
As our hopes and prayers are bent,
     In the overshadowing sorrow,
Of our departed President.