PAINT black with peril what the Time portends; Breathe, if thou wilt, but stifling hopelessness; Brood on Man's swift decline from small to less -- The beast that wallows or the beast that rends: Yet shall the Good prevail, We shall not fail! Blush for our country's dignity and fame, Forgot by those who rob us of our pride; Deplore the sleepers at the altar's side While madmen light their torch at Freedom's flame: Yet shall the Good prevail, We shall not fail! Yea, shudder at the temple strewn with coin; Law leaning on the broken sword of Force; And streams of weakness, come from many a source, In one wild flood of turbulence to join. Yet shall the Good prevail, We shall not fail! Hast thou forgotten Heaven's patient plan? From many a blacker chaos have we come. Nature, a million heroes in her womb, Doth ever answer to the need of Man. So shall the Best prevail, And we not fail! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PLAYERS ASK FOR A BLESSING ON THE PSALTERIES AND ON THEMSELVES by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS SONNET TO TARTAR, A TERRIER BEAUTY by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES INTO BATTLE by JULIAN GRENFELL THE LAST BUCCANEER by CHARLES KINGSLEY ARMY CORRESPONDENT'S LAST RIDE; FIVE FORKS, APRIL 1, 1865 by GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND THE ARGONAUTS (ARGONATUICA): REMORSE by APOLLONIUS RHODIUS |