Albert Laighton

To J. G. W.

The world is wanting in great souls like thine,
For thou art one, unheeding scorn and blame,
Who dares to battle in dear Freedom's name.
As if thy heart was mailed with power divine.
Thou art a hater of all human wrong.
And thy barbed thoughts at Tyranny are hurled.
Thou break'st the silence of the slumbering world.
With sounding notes of deep and burning song,
Unnending arms that wield Oppression's rod;
Or with the music of some gentler strain.
Thou steal'st from life its weariness and pain.
O Poet! thou hast gained the smile of God,
And won on earth a high and star-like name,
To shine for ever in the sky of Fame.