Springfield's Welcome to Lincoln
Lincoln! thy country's father, hail!
We bid thee welcome, but bewail;
Welcome unto thy chosen home—
Triumphant, glorious, dost thou come.
Before the enemy struck the blow
That laid thee in a moment low,
God gave thy wish: It was to see
Our Union safe, our country free.
A country where the gospel truth
Shall reach the hearts of age and youth,
And move unchained, in majesty,
A model land of liberty!
When Jacob's bones, from Egypt borne,
Regained their home, the people mourn;
Great mourning then at Ephron's cave,
Both Abraham's and Isaac's grave.
Far greater is the mourning now;
For our land one emblem wide of woe;
And where thy coffin car appears
Do not the people throng in tears?
Thy triumph of a thousand miles,
Like eastern conqueror with his spoils—
A million hearts thy captives led,
All weeping for their chieftain dead.
Thy chariot, moved with eagle speed
Without the aid of prancing steed,
Has brought thee to that destined tomb;
Springfield, thy home, will give thee room.
Lincoln, the martyr, welcome home!
What lessons blossom on thy tomb!
In God's pure truth and law delight;
With firm, unwavering soul do right.
Be condescending, kind and just;
In God's wise counsels put thy trust;
Let no proud soul e'er dare rebel,
Moved by vile passions sprung from hell.
Come, sleep with us in sweet repose,
Till we, as Christ from death arose,
Still in His glorious image rise
To dwell with him beyond the skies.
STATE CAPITOL, ILLINOIS, 1865
The body of the President lay in state in the Capitol, Springfield, Illinois—which was very richly draped—from May 3 to May 4, when it was removed to Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Lucy Hamilton Hooper, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1835. In conjunction with Charles G. Leland she edited Our Daily Fare, the daily chronicle of the Philadelphia Sanitary Fair in 1864. She was assistant editor of Lippincott's Magazine from its foundation until she went to Europe in 1870. In 1874 she settled in Paris and since has been correspondent for various journals in this country. She has published Poems, with Translations from the German (Philadelphia, 1864), another volume of Poems (1871); a translation of Le Nabob, by Alphonse Daudet (Boston, 1879); and Under the Tricolor, a novel (Philadelphia, 1880). She died August 31, 1893.