It seemed this warfare never might be done;
Through glaring day and blinding night fought he.
There came no hand to help, no eye to see;
No herald's voice proclaimed the fight begun;
No trumpet, when the bitter field was won,
Sounded abroad the soldier's victory.
As if the struggle had been light, he went,

Gladly, life's common road a little space;
Nor any knew how his heart's blood was spent;
Yet there were some who after testified

They saw a glory grow upon his face;
And all men praised the soldier when he died.

From TO HOMER

BY JOHN KEATS

Aye, on the shores of darkness there is light,
And precipices show untrodden green;
There is a budding morrow in mid-night;
There is a triple sight in blindness keen.

HIS ALLY

BY WILLIAM ROSE BENÉT

He fought for his soul, and the stubborn fighting Tried hard his strength.

"One needs seven souls for this long requiting,'

He said at length.

"Six times I come where my first hope jeered me And laughed me to scorn;

But now I fear as I never feared me
To fall forlorn.

"God! when they fight upright and at me
I give them back

Even such blows as theirs that combat me;
But now, alack!

"They fight with the wiles of fiends escaping
And underhand.

Six times, O God, and my wounds are gaping!
I-reel to stand.

"Six battles' span! By this gasping breath,
No pantomime.

'Tis all that I can. I am sick unto death. And a seventh time?

"This is beyond all battles' soreness!"
Then his wonder cried:

For Laughter, with shield and steely harness,
Stood up at his side!

COURAGE

BY KARLE WILSON BAKER

Courage is armor

A blind man wears;
The calloused scar

Of outlived despairs:
Courage is Fear

That has said its prayers.

UNVANQUISHED

BY GRACE HOFFMANN WHITE

Ravaged of faith I fled,
Beat life to a blade,

Cut from my stiffened body
Love's enticing coils-
Unvanquished-unafraid . . .

FOR THOSE WHO FAIL

BY JOAQUIN MILLER

"All honour to him who shall win the prize,"
The world has cried for a thousand years;
But to him who tries and who fails and dies,
I give great honour and glory and tears.

O great is the hero who wins a name,
But greater many and many a time
Some pale-faced fellow who dies in shame,
And lets God finish the thought sublime.

And great is the man with a sword undrawn,
And good is the man who refrains from wine;
But the man who fails and yet fights on,
Lo he is the twin-born brother of mine!

THE OLD STOIC

BY EMILY BRONTË

Riches I hold in light esteem,
And Love I laugh to scorn;
And lust of fame was but a dream
That vanish'd with the morn;

And if I pray, the only prayer
That moves my lips for me
Is, "Leave the heart that now I bear,
And give me liberty!"

Yes, as my swift days near their goal,
'Tis all that I implore:

In life and death a chainless soul,
With courage to endure.

PSALM XXIII

BY DAVID

The LORD is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness For his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow

of death,

I will fear no evil:

For thou art with me;

Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me
In the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life:

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

IMMORTALITY

BY MATTHEW ARNOLD

Foil'd by our fellowmen, depress'd, outworn,
We leave the brutal world to take its way,
And, Patience! in another life, we say,

The world shall be thrust down, and we up-borne.
And will not, then, the immortal armies scorn

The world's poor, routed leavings? or will they
Who fail'd under the heat of this life's day,
Support the fervours of the heavenly morn?
No, no! the energy of life may be

Kept on after the grave, but not begun;

And he who flagg'd not in the earthly strife,