More Songs by the Fighting Men
What of the men who died
Stout-hearted and steadfast-eyed
For the good they might not share
And the goal to them denied?
For the lamp they strove to bear
Should light another's way,
And the boon that they might not share
Is the boon we hold to-day.
What of the god-like men
Who lie in the dust to-day
For the dreams that we hold so light
And the hope that we fling away?
Ah! shall we not vex their sleep,
We men of the lesser mould,
Who sully the name they bled to keep,
And the honour they died to hold?
A thousand ages ago
Man fought with the axe of stone
That the many might seize the thing they loved
From the few, and hold it alone.
For the will of the strong was law
And the right of the weak was death
When man was one with the beasts of the earth
And battled with them for breath.
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