THE HAND OF LINCOLN
Reading edition
EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN
Look on this cast, and know the hand That bore a nation in its hold; From this mute witness understand What Lincoln was,—how large of mould The man who sped the woodman's team, And deepest sunk the ploughman's share, And pushed the laden raft astream, Of fate before him unaware. This was the hand that knew to swing The axe—since thus would Freedom train Her son—and made the forest ring, And drove the wedge, and toiled amain. Firm hand, that loftier office took, A conscious leader's will obeyed, And, when men sought his word and look, With steadfast might the gathering swayed. No courtier's, toying with a sword, Nor minstrel's, laid across a lute; A chief's, uplifted to the Lord When all the kings of earth were mute! The hand of Anak, sinewed strong, The fingers that on greatness clutch; Yet, lo! the marks their lines along Of one who strove and suffered much. For here in knotted cord and vein I trace the varying chart of years; I know the troubled heart, the strain, The weight of Atlas—and the tears. Again I see the patient brow That palm erewhile was wont to press; And now 'tis furrowed deep, and now Made smooth with hope and tenderness. For something of a formless grace This moulded outline plays about; A pitying flame, beyond our trace, Breathes like a spirit, in and out,— The love that cast an aureole Round one who, longer to endure, Called mirth to ease his ceaseless dole, Yet kept his nobler purpose sure. Lo, as I gaze, the statured man, Built up from yon large hand, appears; A type that Nature wills to plan But once in all a people's years. What better than this voiceless cast To tell of such a one as he, Since through its living semblance passed The thought that bade a race be free!
NOTES
this cast:—A cast of Lincoln's hand was made by Leonard W. Volk, in 1860, on the Sunday following the nomination of Lincoln for the Presidency. The original, in bronze, can be seen at the National Museum in Washington. Various copies have been made in plaster. An anecdote concerning one of these is told on page 107 of William Dean Howells's Literary Friends and Acquaintances; facing page 106 of the same book there is an interesting picture. In the Critic, volume 44, page 510, there is an article by Isabel Moore, entitled Hands that have Done Things; a picture of Lincoln's hand, in plaster, is given in the course of this article.
Anak:—The sons of Anak are spoken of in the Bible as a race of giants. See Numbers, 13:33; Deuteronomy, 9:2.
Atlas:—In Greek story, the giant who held the world on his shoulders.
the thought:—The Emancipation Proclamation.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY
Read the poem through from beginning to end. Then go back to the first and study it more carefully. Notice that there is no pause at the end of the first stanza. In the ninth line, mentally put in how after know. Explain what is said about Freedom's training her son. Loftier office: Loftier than what? Note that might is a noun. Mentally insert hand after courtier's. Can you tell from the hand of a person whether he has suffered or not? What does the author mean here by "the weight of Atlas"? What is a "formless grace"? Is the expression appropriate here? What characteristic of Lincoln is referred to in the line beginning "Called mirth"? Are great men so rare as the author seems to think? Why is the cast a good means of telling of "such a one as he"? Look carefully at one of Lincoln's portraits, and then read this poem aloud to yourself.
Compare this poem with the sonnet On the Life-Mask of Abraham Lincoln, page 210.
COLLATERAL READINGS
Abraham Lincoln: A Short LifeJohn G. Nicolay
The Boys' Life of LincolnHelen Nicolay
Personal Traits of Abraham Lincoln " "
Lincoln the LawyerF.T. Hill
Passages from the Speeches and Letters of Abraham LincolnR.W. Gilder (Ed.)
Lincoln's Own StoriesAnthony Gross
LincolnNorman Hapgood
Abraham Lincoln, the Boy and the ManJames Morgan
Father AbrahamIda Tarbell
He Knew Lincoln[6] " "
Life of Abraham Lincoln " "
Abraham LincolnRobert G. Ingersoll
Abraham LincolnNoah Brooks
Abraham Lincoln for Boys and GirlsC.W. Moores
The GraysonsEdward Eggleston
The Perfect Tribute[6]M.R.S. Andrews
The Toy Shop[6]M.S. Gerry
We Talked of Lincoln (poem)[7]E.W. Thomson
Lincoln and the Sleeping SentinelL.E. Chittenden
O Captain, my Captain!Walt Whitman
When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloomed " "
PoemsE.C. Stedman
An American Anthology " " "
American Authors and their Homes, pp. 157-172F.W. Halsey
American Authors at Home, pp. 273-291J.L. and J.B. Gilder
For portraits of E.C. Stedman, see Bookman, 34:592; Current Literature, 42:49.