And what for the man who went forth for the right, Was hit in the battle and shorn of a limb? Why, honor for him who falls in the fight, Falls wounded of limb and crippled for life; Give honor, give glory, give pensions for him, Give bread and give shelter for babes and for wife. But what for the hero who battles alone In battles of thought where God set him down; Who fought all alone and who fell overthrown In his reason at last from the hardness and hate? Why, jibe him and jeer him and point as you frown To that lowly, lone hero who dared challenge fate. God pity, God pardon, and God help us all! "That young man of promise," wherever he be, "That young man of promise," wherever he fall, -- For fall, he must fall, 'tis a thousand to one, -- Let us plant him a rose; let us plant a great tree To hide his poor grave from the world and the sun. I tell you 'twere better to cherish that soul -- That soldier that battles with thought for a sword, That climbs the steep ramparts where wrong has control, And falls beaten back by the rude, trampling horde. Ay, better to cherish his words and his worth Than all the Napoleons that people the earth. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CHANNEL PASSAGE by RUPERT BROOKE HYMN TO MONT BLANC [IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI] by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE THE AMERICAN FLAG by JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE A PORTRAIT by JOSEPH ASHBY-STERRY A MORNING PIECE; WRITTEN IN ABSENCE by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN |