Dead In Sight Of Fame

DIED - Early morning of September 5, 1876, and
in the gleaming dawn of "name and fame,"
Hamilton J. Dunbar.
Dead!    Dead!    Dead!
We thought him ours alone;
And were so proud to see him tread
The rounds of fame, and lift his head
Where sunlight ever shone;
But now our aching eyes are dim,
And look through tears in vain for him.
Name!    Name!    Name!
It was his diadem;
Nor ever tarnish-taint of shame
Could dim its luster - like a flame
Reflected in a gem,
He wears it blazing on his brow
Within the courts of Heaven now.
Tears!    Tears!    Tears!
Like dews upon the leaf
That bursts at last - from out the years
The blossom of a trust appears
That blooms above the grief;
And mother, brother, wife and child
Will see it and be reconciled.