"To the Memory of Gen. Wool" by J.L. Young (1869)

To the Memory of Gen. Wool [(d. November 10, 1869)].

BY J.L. YOUNG.

Full orb'd, excelling every hope

That shone within his horoscope,

Stretching the limit of his days

Through sunny and o'er darkened ways,

Till far a-down the grooves of time

He passed the outmost picket line

That glooms along the vast abyss,

And veils the other world from this.

        Full orb'd amid a nation's gloom,

        The hero passeth to the tomb.

Full orb'd upon the scroll of fame

We write at last his deathless name

Among the chosen gems that set

A grateful nation's coronet.

Let muffled drum and cannon's boom

Sound requiem o'er the veteran's tomb,

And here let buds their toilet make

More lavish for the hero's sake.

        Full orb'd amid a nation's gloom,

        The veteran passeth to the tomb.

Full orb'd, the hero after toil

Rests calmly in his native soil;

The soil he fought and bled to save,

Yields him at last an honored grave.

Nor bugle note nor battle cheer,

Nor envy's darts assail him here;

But memory on her spotless page

Embalms the hero and the sage.

        Full orb'd amid a nation's gloom,

        The veteran passeth to the tomb.

Young, J.L. "To the Memory of Gen. Wool." Troy Daily Times. December 4, 1869: col 4.