While in unholy war foe strives with foe,
Dead lies the loader of a great crusade;
The pale-faced warrior lays our hero low.
Whose mighty weapon ayo for Kight was swayed.
Vice fled before it, Falsehood bowed its head;
Injustice cowed, turned on its recreant heel;
While the fierce light of honest Truth was shed
In dueling rays from hit all-glorious steel.
The pen is mightier than the sword, they say,—
Let both for once to his grand pencil yield;
Look kick upon the foes in grim array
His pencil left heart-pierecd upon the field!
It tore the victim from Death's vengeful grasp,*
It fought with vice in many a secret den.
The old knight falls, his weapon in his clasp,
And leaves its work his monument to men.
* Cruikshank’s famous “Bank Note” led to the abolition of the death penalty for forgery.
Related material
- George Cruikshank (homepage)
- A biography of Cruikshank
- The satirical banknote with commentary from the British Library
Bibliography
“George Cruikshank.” Fun. (13 February 1878): 76. Web version from the George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida. Web. 11 July 2017.
Last modified 11 July 2017