AH! foolish souls and false! who loudly cried "True chivalry no longer breathes in time." Look round us now; how wondrous, how sublime The heroic lives we witness; far and wide, Stern vows by sterner deeds are justified; Self abnegation, calmness, courage, power, Sway with a rule august, our stormy hour, Wherein the loftiest hearts have wrought and died -- Wrought grandly, and died smiling. Thus, oh God, From tears, and blood, and anguish, thou hast brought The ennobling act, the faith-sustaining thought -- 'Till in the marvellous present, one may see A mighty stage, by knight and patriots trod, Who had not shunned earth's haughtiest chivalry. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MAD WOMAN'S SONG by KAREN SWENSON BLACK AND BLUE EYES by THOMAS MOORE TWO POEMS TO HANS THOMA ON HIS SIXIETH BIRTHDAY: 1. MOONLIGHT NIGHT by RAINER MARIA RILKE FLANDERS NOW by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN CHILD ELSIE by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE |