To live a hero, then to stand In bronze serene above the city's throng; Hero at sea, and now on land Revered by thousands as they rush along. If these were all the gifts of fame— To be a shade amid alert reality, And win a statue and a name— How cold and cheerless immortality! But when the sun shines in the Square, And multitudes are swarming in the street, Children are always gathered there, Laughing and playing round the hero's feet. And in the crisis of the game— With boyish grit and ardor it is played— You'll hear some youngster call his name: "The Admiral—he never was afraid!" And so the hero daily lives, And boys grow braver as the Man they see! The inspiration that he gives Still helps to make them loyal, strong, and free! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A HYMN FOR PROCESSION WITH CROSS AND BANNERS by SABINE BARING-GOULD THE MOUSE'S LULLABY by PALMER COX WINTER EVENING by ARCHIBALD LAMPMAN MONNA INNOMINATA, A SONNET OF SONNETS: 7 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI ON BURNING A DULL POEM; WRITTEN IN 1729 by JONATHAN SWIFT SONNET: ENGLAND by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH SUNSET ACROSS THE LAKE by AUGUSTA M. BARNEY ON THE DEATH OF MR. WOODWARD, AT EDINBURGH by JOHN GARDINER CALKINS BRAINARD |