The first American: In a prose article, Lowell calls him "The by James Russell Lowell

This poem by James Russell Lowell honors Abraham Lincoln as the most genuinely American figure the nation has ever known. Lowell views Lincoln not as a refined politician molded by tradition, but as a person who emerged organically from the American landscape and its people. By comparing him to Tennyson's elegy for the Duke of Wellington, Lowell positions Lincoln among the greatest national heroes of the English-speaking world.

Reverent and proud, with a quiet confidence. Lowell isn't mourning dramatically; he's making a strong, thoughtful assertion about Lincoln's role in history. The tone resembles a toast delivered by someone who has reflected deeply on their message and truly believes in every word.

James Russell Lowell wrote this piece in the years after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865. Lowell, a professor at Harvard, an abolitionist, and one of America’s leading literary figures, had closely followed Lincoln during the Civil War. Although he initially doubted Lincoln's polish and political acumen, he eventually came to see him as a man of remarkable moral insight and genuine American spirit. The comparison to Tennyson's *Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington* (1852) is intentional and bold: Tennyson was England's Poet Laureate, and his ode set the standard for national elegies. By likening Lincoln to Wellington, Lowell suggests that America now had its own founding hero deserving of similar literary and historical significance. This piece exists at the crossroads of elegy, national myth-making, and literary critique.