Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE VOLUNTEER by HENRY JOHN NEWBOLT

Poet Analysis

First Line: HE LEAPT TO ARMS UNBIDDEN
Last Line: THIS WAS THE MAN WE KNEW.
Subject(s): MILITARY SERVICE, VOLUNTARY;
"HE leapt to arms unbidden,
Unneeded, over-bold;
His face by earth is hidden,
His heart in earth is cold.

"Curse on the reckless daring
That could not wait the call,
The proud fantastic bearing
That would be first to fall!"

O tears of human passion,
Blur not the image true;
This was not folly's fashion,
This was the man we knew.



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