THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH, a poem

1836-1907

WE celebrate with pomp and pride
     A Cromwell or a Wellington;
We venerate who, self-denied,
     Earth's higher victories have won;
But through the all-remembering years,
We love who give us smiles and tears.

The voice that charmed us may grow still,
     The poet cease to weave his spell:
Ascended to the skyey hill
     Remote, where the immortals dwell,—
Time to our thought but more endears
     Who gave us smiles and gave us tears.

"Thomas Bailey Aldrich" by Florence Earle Coates. Published in The Writer (April 1907) and Lyrics of Life (1909).