On the house-tops was no woman But spat .towards him, and hissed;
No child but screamed out curses, And shook its little fist.
But the Consul's brow was sad,
And the Consul's speech was low, And darkly looked he at the wall,
And darkly at the foe. 'Their van will be upon us
Before the bridge goes down; And if they once may win the bridge,
What hope to save the town ? '
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the gate : 'To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late; And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his Gods,
And for the tender mother
Who dandled him to rest, And for the wife who nurses
His baby at her breast, And for the holy maidens
Who feed the eternal flame, To save them from false Sextus
That wrought the deed of shame?
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