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A Pen of Steel
by George Pratt
(1832 --1875)

GIVE me a pen of steel! Away with the gray goose-quill!
I will grave the thoughts I feel with a fiery heart and will:
I will grave with the stubborn pen on the tablets of the heart,
Words never to fade again and thoughts that shall never depart.

Give me a pen of steel! Hardened and bright and keen,
To run like the chariot wheel, When the battle-flame is seen:
And give me the warrior's heart, To struggle thro' night and day,
And to write with this thing of art Words clear as the lightning's play.

Give me a pen of steel! The softer age is done,
And the thoughts that lovers feel Have long been sought and won:
No more of the gray goose-quill— No more of the lover's lay—
I have done with the minstrel's skill, And I change my path to-day.

Give me a pen of steel! I will tell to after-times
How nerve and iron will Are poured to the world in rhymes:
How the soul is changed to power, And the heart is changed to flame,
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