Abraham Lincoln

  Hundreds there have been, loftier than their kind,
  Heroes and victors in the world's great wars:
  Hundreds, exalted as the eternal stars,
  By the great heart, or keen and mighty mind;
  There have been sufferers, maimed and halt and blind,
  Who bore their woes in such triumphant calm
  That God hath crowned them with the martyr's palm;
  And there were those who fought through fire to find
  Their Master's face, and were by fire refined.
  But who like thee, oh Sire! hath ever stood
  Steadfast for truth and right, when lies and wrong
  Rolled their dark waters, turbulent and strong;
  Who bore reviling, baseness, tears and blood
  Poured out like water, till thine own was spent,
  Then reaped Earth's sole reward--a grave and monument!