The Life and Work of James A. Garfield, Twentieth President of the United States / Embracing an Account of the Scenes and Incidents of His Boyhood; the Struggles of His Youth; the Might of His Early Manhood; His Valor As a Soldier; His Career As a Statesman; His Election to the Presidency; and the Tragic Story of His Death.

by John Clark Ridpath

And evening’s peace falls gently on the heart,

I bound away across the noisy years,

Unto the utmost verge of Memory’s land,

Where earth and sky in dreamy distance meet:

And memory dim, with dark oblivion joins;

Where woke the first remembered sounds that fell

Upon the ear in childhood’s early morn;

And wandering thence, along the rolling years,

I see the shadow of my former self

Gliding from childhood up to man’s estate.