The Brother

Wert thou alone the dauntless champion, 
     The strong right arm of freedom's pioneers, 
     We might have been too glorified for tears 
In the great joy of victory; the "Well done!" 
Of plausive heavens had drowned the earthly moan,
     When the eye saw thee lost in loftier spheres!
     But oh, my brother, whom my soul reveres 
With that great love which answers love alone, 
Tender and true. though dwelling far apart 
     In inaccessible thoughts-all through and through,
The Eternal Mother tempered thy strong heart 
     With her eternal sweetness, till it grew 
Perpetual benediction from thine eyes'
Unsullied azure shed like light from fathomless skies!