'Abraham Lincoln 1861-1865' - Birendar Singh

Abraham Lincoln

1861 – 1865

A man whose presidency became, for all time to come, a model

Whether in decisiveness or eloquence or in humility

Was the sixteenth president – Abraham Lincoln

And though compassionate, he could be ruthless too, if need be

Lincoln is, however, known more for his Emancipation Proclamation

Which promised executive freeing of the slaves

And that served as a tactical maneuver too

For swelling his armies with black runaways

His struggle, he said, was to save the Union

And neither to save or destroy slavery

And when his pleadings to keep Southerners in the Union failed

And they fired the first shot, he called it "the great event" evolutionary

So, he confronted and did not avoid the conflict – as did James Buchanan

But the southern forces defeated one federal army after another

Till Lincoln’s patience ran out and he gave the command to Ulysses Grant

Who conquered South and finished off the civil war altogether

Lincoln then extended his hand to the South and said there will be no persecution

And that they could have their guns to shoot crows and horses to plow with

And so, he was the man who brought a broken nation back together

But, soon shot by a Confederate sympathizer, her was the first president to be assassinated

Epilogue

"It’s not the years in your life that count; It’s the life in your years," so said Lincoln

And so prophetic became these words since his own life was cut short

And still he could lead the country through its worst crisis, preserve the Union and end slavery

And so, became he the best U.S. President ever, a model for others, apart