Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GOD'S HEROES, by GEORGE MURRAY (1830-1910)


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GOD'S HEROES, by                    
First Line: Once, at a battle's close, a soldier met
Last Line: Their names are syllabled on earth no more.
Subject(s): Death; Heroism; Martyrs; Soldiers; Dead, The; Heroes; Heroines


Once, at a battle's close, a soldier met
A youthful comrade whom his eyes had missed
Amid the dust and tumult of the strife.
Flushed with the glow of victory, and proud
Of wounds received in presence of his Chief,
He spake in tones of triumph to the boy;
"I did not see thee in the battle's flame;"
The stripling answered:" I was in the smoke."
Then, with his hand upon his bleeding heart,
He closed his eyes, and suddenly fell dead!
So, countless heroes, oft unheeded, fight
In Life's grim battle, hidden by the smoke.
With patient martyrdom they ply the tasks
That God assigns them. Words of sympathy
From human lips too seldom cheer their toil,
Or help them to be victors over pain.
Few mark their struggles in the crowded world—
Few soothe their anguish while they inly bleed—
And, when they answer to the call of Death,
Their names are syllabled on earth no more.





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