|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
COURAGE, by HERBERT KAUFMAN Poet's Biography First Line: Tis not because of muscled meat Last Line: If we disdain our fears? Subject(s): Courage; Valor; Bravery | |||
'TIS not because of muscled meat We place men in the Master's Seat; We do not reckon toughened thew, Nor breed, nor creed, nor bulk, nor hue, The force with which the anvil rings, Nor care how hard the hammer swings; The might in brawn, the strength in bone Can never serve success, alone; Think you't was Spartan steel and skill That saved Greece from the Persian will? Think you Horatius won the day And held the bridge through nimble play Of sword? Or when all Europe lay Cringing beneath Napoleon's sway, 'Twas better guns and cannon balls That swept the fields and crumbled walls? All that was splendid in every age Was written by valor on history's page. Giants in pigmy guise, Prophets with groping eyes; What matter sight or size When men build to the skies? What matter numbers, years, If we disdain our fears? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNLESS IT WAS COURAGE by MARVIN BELL THE QUALITY OF COURAGE by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET ON THE OREGON COAST; FOR WILLIAM STAFFORD by ROBERT BLY WORDS WITH WALLACE STEVENS by ROBERT BLY BUFFALO CLOUDS OVER THE MAESTRO HOON by NORMAN DUBIE A SONG OF COURAGE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE AUDACIOUS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON |
| |