Abraham Lincoln Poems

Poems » abraham lincoln

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the sixteenth President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1861 until his assassination. As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States, Lincoln won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected president later that year. During his term, he helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States of America in the American Civil War. He introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1865. Lincoln closely supervised the victorious war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including Ulysses S. Grant. Historians have concluded that he handled the factions of the Republican Party well, bringing leaders of each faction into his cabinet and forcing them to cooperate. Lincoln successfully defused a war scare with the United Kingdom in 1861. Under his leadership, the Union took control of the border slave states at the start of the war. Additionally, he managed his own reelection in the 1864 presidential election. Opponents of the war (also known as "Copperheads") criticized him for refusing to compromise on the slavery issue. Conversely, the Radical Republicans, an abolitionist faction of the Republican Party, criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. Even with these problems, Lincoln successfully rallied public opinion through his rhetoric and speeches; his Gettysburg Address is but one example of this. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation. His assassination in 1865 was the first presidential assassination in U.S. history and made him a martyr for the ideal of national unity. Scholars now rank Lincoln among the top three U.S. Presidents, with the majority of those surveyed placing him first. He is noted for his lasting influence on U.S. politics, including a redefinition of republicanism.

abraham lincoln
 
 
Abraham Lincoln,
His hand and pen:
He will be good but
God knows When.
the berg (a dream)
 
 
I saw a ship of martial build
(Her standards set, her brave apparel on)
Directed as by mad... [read poem]
the swamp angel
 
 
There is a coal-black Angel
With a thick Afric lip,
And he dwells (like the hunted and... [read poem]
the march into virginia ending in the first manassas (july, 1861)
 
 
Did all the lets and bars appear
To every just or larger end,
Whence should come the t... [read poem]
greek architecture
 
 
Not magnitude, not lavishness,
But Form -- the Site;
Not innovating wilfulness,
But reverence for the Archetype.
the bench of boors
 
 
In bed I muse on Tenier's boors,
Embrowned and beery losels all:
A wakeful brain
... [read poem]
dupont's round fight (november, 1861)
 
 
In time and measure perfect moves
All Art whose aim is sure;
Evolving rhyme and stars ... [read poem]
monody
 
 
To have known him, to have loved him
After loneness long;
And then to be estranged in ... [read poem]
tom deadlight (1810)
 
 
Farewell and adieu to you noble hearties, --
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain,... [read poem]
the maldive shark
 
 
About the Shark, phlegmatical one,
Pale sot of the Maldive sea,
The sleek little pilot-fis... [read poem]
shiloh: a requiem (april, 1862)
 
 
Skimming lightly, wheeling still,
The swallows fly low
Over the field in clouded days,... [read poem]
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