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Hidden Springs, Delicate Wheels: The Tomb Of Abraham Lincoln
He saw the issue in a simile's
terms: that, upon this nation, slavery's
effects were like the symptoms of disease---
debilitating and incurable;
to severance of the body from its soul;
in suffering too slowly terminal;
too grimly final in a weed-grown grace.
A young man, he was not able to save
(but only mourn) his sole beloved, Ann.
But, as the poet wrote, their separation
prepared him for another loss, so sore
that he must stave it off---even with war.
In her name, and all for her sake, this Man
was called by Providence to save the nation.
