| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | On the Life-Mask of Abraham Lincoln | | By Richard Watson Gilder (1844–1909) |
| | | THIS bronze doth keep the very form and mold | |
| Of our great martyr’s face. Yes, this is he: | |
| That brow all wisdom, all benignity; | |
| That human, humorous mouth; those cheeks that hold | |
| Like some harsh landscape all the summer’s gold; | 5 |
| That spirit fit for sorrow, as the sea | |
| For storms to beat on; the lone agony | |
| Those silent, patient lips too well foretold. | |
| Yes, this is he who ruled a world of men | |
| As might some prophet of the elder day,— | 10 |
| Brooding above the tempest and the fray | |
| With deep-eyed thought and more than mortal ken. | |
| A power was his beyond the touch of art | |
| Or arméd strength: his pure and mighty heart. | | | | |
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