Defeat a brave man will not contemplate, Tho' more than life may on his sword depend. Let peril knock but at a loved one's gate, He first knows fear whose courage none might bend. So with the king at this new turn of Fate, Heart-fear, heart-love, now in his breast contend. Once more the witchery of one small face Urged host on host God's coinage to debase. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NOTES FOR THE FIRST LINE OF A SPANISH POEM by JAMES GALVIN UNDER A PATCHED SAIL by MARIANNE MOORE |