Joseph S. Cotter, Sr., "Answer to Dunbar's 'A Choice'" (1898)
They please me so — these solemn lays
That tell what God to man decrees.
The world so seldom mends its ways
That poets should by swift degrees
Put back the frail, bring forth the strong,
And wed stern facts to sober song
With a ring so clear that our barks must steer
To the haven where the God-kissed air
Makes the soul-wine sweet through its earth-brewed lees.
Published in Joseph S. Cotter, "Links of Friendship" (1898)