THE BRAVEST MAN by CHARLES LOUIS HENRY WAGNER

God! but it takes a man to stand
Firm as a rock midst troubled seas
When doubts assail on every hand
When friends depart and honor flees;
When foes exult and cowards sneer,
When soft-lived men deny and rail,
And even fools at wise men leer,
He is a man who does not quail.

God! but it takes a man to be
Calm as the deep when torrents roar,
When some loved soul proves Pharisee
And passes by forevermore;
When Poverty stalks grim, and rules
Because of principles, unshared,
When Wrong, through precedent, befools,
He is a man who stands declared.

God! but it takes a man who knows,
And knowing, rights the age's wrong,
Who stands alone and overthrows
The moss-back doctrines of the throng;
When Piety deplores his might,
And lifts its hands to out-grown gods,
When pulpits rage and proselyte,
It takes a man to stand the odds.

God! but it takes a man who moves
Straight to the line marked to the goal
When others follow time-worn grooves,
When Custom's marks have seared the soul;
When others live in ease, and laugh
The bravest man who dares, to scorn,
When few will speak in Right's behalf,
Then is the time when manhood's born!

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