Classic Poem

L OVE'S full forgiveness following man's surrender
Is God's fixed seal of goodness. Who forgives
Full-souled is Godlike, and his deed becomes
The watchword of innumerous Sons of Light
Who guard earth's tents about the gates of Heaven.

In that high hour the great Blue Captain won
His noblest triumph and his brightest crown.
Simple and humble, the true conqueror,
He met his vanquished foe with chivalrous grace
Betokening high spirit. Without display,
Without an accent but of kindliness,
He grasped the hand of the defeated Chief,
And through it sent his nature's finest passion —
The Nation's likewise, Lincoln's and the Christ's —
Into the soul of Lee and the South's soul.
" Brother! " — and all the lights of Heaven leaped up,
And Life's new song went ringing down the sky,
Swords turned to plowshares 'neath the touch of Love,
And spirits of a million martyrs crowned —
No more man's " Blue " or " Gray, " but God's own White —
Saw, heard, and bivouacked on the heights of joy,
Chanting the dawning of the Age of Peace.