Page:Songs, Legends, and Ballads.djvu/146

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SONGS, LEGENDS, AND BALLADS.

Light on the dark horizon to guide us clear from shame—

Chord struck deep with the keynote, telling us what can save —
"A nation among the nations," or forever a nameless grave.

Such is the will of the martyr—the burden we still must bear;
But even from death he reaches the legacy to share:

He teaches the secret of manhood—the watchword of those who aspire—
That men must follow freedom though it lead through blood and fire;

That sacrifice is the bitter draught which freemen still must quaff—
That every patriotic life is the patriot's epitaph.