Frank B. Coffin, "Douglass Dead?" (1897)
Across the nation's broad domain,
On every hill, and every plain,
Peals out the muffled, sad refrain,
That Douglass is dead.
O no, not dead ! for every heart
In every state must surely start
As freedom's great, uprisi ig mart,
If Douglass is dead!
And far across the deep blue sea,
Those nations that love liberty,
Their minds will be a mournful lea,
For Douglass' death.
Once freedom's great, uprising host,
From Maine to California's coast,
Of this great man could truly boast,
And now he's dead!
In every heart of all the race,
He'll ever have a sacred place,
His name can never be erased,
He is not dead!
He's with Lincoln, John Brown, Grant,
With Bishop Payne and Price he chants,
With such surrounding host we can't
Say he is dead!
Published in Coffin's Poems with Ajax' Ordeals (1897)