Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PRICE OF HONOR (THE COLOMBIAN INDEMNITY), by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PRICE OF HONOR (THE COLOMBIAN INDEMNITY), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How much is a country's honor worth?
Last Line: Give us our measureless honor again.
Subject(s): World War I; First World War


How much is a country's honor worth?
When the cynic of other lands shall scoff
At our sacred faith as a thing for mirth,
As a race of swine for a golden trough --
"Brotherhood? -- only a sleeper's dream;
Liberty? -- naught but escape from law;
Courage? -- merely a school-boy's theme --
A sword in its sheath you will never draw";
Shall we haggle for honor and bargain and bid
And count the nails in a coffin-lid?

How much is a country's honor worth?
When we turn on the cynic and cite with pride
The Open Door for the surging earth,
With opportunity's welcome wide;
The path for all from sea to sea;
The rescued islands of east and west --
Made free, or tutored to be free;
And Hope, the friend of the worst and best
Shall we count the value, in dollars down,
Of the jeweled stars in our country's crown?

How much is our country's honor worth?
We may reckon the census of numbers and gold
And plot and appraise the nation's girth,
But the rainbow's beauty, what hand can hold?
And the wind, is it richer for music or power?
-- Oh, ye who stand at our threatened gate
And plan for its strength in a perilous hour,
The soul is the fortress of the State!
Let the land be proud with the pride of men:
Give us our measureless honor again.





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