Centennial Anniversary of the Birth
of Ulysses S. Grant 287
published in the character sketch by
Judge Hugh L.
Nichols in the April QUARTERLY.
POETIC TRIBUTES
ON THE OCCASION OF THE GRANT CENTENARY
Though General Grant, as his son has
stated, cared
little for music and, as other writers
have told us, was
not fond of poetry, the centennial
celebration of his
birth called forth poetic
tributes. The following ap-
peared in the papers of Georgetown, the
first two on
April 28 and the last on May 11:
U. S. GRANT
BY BERTYE Y. WILLIAMS
On the banks of the Ohio,
In a humble little cot,
He was born -our nation's
hero;
But the busy world recked not.
None came by to do him honor,
Only April breezes sweet
From the peach and apple orchards
Scattered petals at his feet.
There the little new-born baby
Grew and stretched each sturdy limb;
And the beautiful Ohio
Sang a cradle-song for him.
On the fair banks of the Hudson,
In a tomb of stately grace,
They have laid our nation's hero.
They have given him a place
Where the world goes by in pageant,
Where the city's full tide swells;
And the great of earth, in passing,
Place their wreathes of immortelles.
There the weary warrior resteth
From the stress of conflicts grim;
And the blue and shining Hudson
Sings a requiem for him.
-From
the Georgetown News Democrat.