Call not the royal Swede unfortunate...

Call not the royal Swede unfortunate,

Who never did to Fortune bend the knee;

Who slighted fear; rejected steadfastly

Temptation; and whose kingly name and state

Have “perished by his choice, and not his fate!”

Hence lives He, to his inner self endeared;

And hence, wherever virtue is revered,

He sits a more exalted Potentate,

Throned in the hearts of men. Should Heaven ordain

That this great Servant of a righteous cause

Must still have sad or vexing thoughts to endure,

Yet may a sympathizing spirit pause,

Admonished by these truths, and quench all pain

In thankful joy and gratulation pure.