Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, COURAGE, by HERBERT KAUFMAN



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COURAGE, by                     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?





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