Poem: “From The Phi Beta Kappa Poem” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Download PDF

American Literature – American Poetry – Ralph Waldo Emerson – Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson
< < < Webster
1854 > > >

From The Phi Beta Kappa Poem

1834

Ill fits the abstemious Muse a crown to weave
For living brows; ill fits them to receive:
And yet, if virtue abrogate the law,
One portrait—fact or fancy—we may draw;
A form which Nature cast in the heroic mould
Of them who rescued liberty of old;
He, when the rising storm of party roared,
Brought his great forehead to the council board,
There, while hot heads perplexed with fears the state,
Calm as the morn the manly patriot sate;
Seemed, when at last his clarion accents broke,
As if the conscience of the country spoke.
Not on its base Monadnoc surer stood,
Than he to common sense and common good:
No mimic; from his breast his counsel drew,
Believed the eloquent was aye the true;
He bridged the gulf from th’ alway good and wise
To that within the vision of small eyes.
Self-centred; when he launched the genuine word
It shook or captivated all who heard,
Ran from his mouth to mountains and the sea,
And burned in noble hearts proverb and prophecy.

< < < Webster
1854 > > >

American Literature – American Poetry – Ralph Waldo Emerson – Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you liked this article, subscribe , put likes, write comments!

Share on social networks

Visit us on Facebook or Twitter

Check out Our Latest Posts

From The Phi Beta Kappa Poem

Leave a comment Cancel reply