AH! foolish souls and false! Who loudly cried
“True chivalry no longer breathes in time.”
Look round us now; how wondrous, how sublime
The heroic lives we witness; far and wide,
Stern vows by sterner deeds are justified;
Self abnegation, calmness, courage, power,
Sway with a rule august, our stormy hour,
Wherein the loftiest hearts have wrought and died–
Wrought grandly, and died smiling. Thus, oh God,
From tears, and blood, and anguish, thou hast brought
The ennobling act, the faith-sustaining thought–
‘Till in the marvellous present, one may see
A mighty stage, by knight and patriots trod,
Who had not shunned earth’s haughtiest chivalry.
(Paul Hamilton Hayne)
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Based on Topics: God Poems, Sadness Poems, Time Poems, Smiling Poems, Power Poems, Courage Poems, Fool Poems, Present Poems, Self PoemsBased on Keywords: haughtiest, abnegation