THE DUELLIST.
435
What then? What can the driveller dread beside?
A sneer! From whom? Fools with nor heart nor brain,
Whose praise, as unto infamy allied,
Ev'n he would shrink from with a just disdain;
And yet the craven bows, and basely wears their chain!
A sneer! From whom? Fools with nor heart nor brain,
Whose praise, as unto infamy allied,
Ev'n he would shrink from with a just disdain;
And yet the craven bows, and basely wears their chain!
The voluntary madman dares not think;
From that dread gulf he turns, appalled, away;
He dares not, standing on the dark grave's brink,
And self-divorced from heaven, he dares not pray.
He asks no good man's blessing on that day;
But to the field, with guilty stealth, he hies;
Brute nerves suffice his brutal part to play.
As the fool dieth, should he fall, he dies;
Or, victor (honor all!) he, like a felon, flies!
From that dread gulf he turns, appalled, away;
He dares not, standing on the dark grave's brink,
And self-divorced from heaven, he dares not pray.
He asks no good man's blessing on that day;
But to the field, with guilty stealth, he hies;
Brute nerves suffice his brutal part to play.
As the fool dieth, should he fall, he dies;
Or, victor (honor all!) he, like a felon, flies!
How hath the mighty fallen![1] His country's love,
A blissful home, ev'n Virtue's honest scorn;
All could not lift the hero's soul above
A false and fatal shame. Well might he mourn
His bride and babes, left stricken and forlorn;
His cause deserted, and his country: still
He left the fame so nobly won and worn,
Conscious and sad, the duellist's grave to fill:
False honor's loud call drowned the voice—Thou shalt not kill!
A blissful home, ev'n Virtue's honest scorn;
All could not lift the hero's soul above
A false and fatal shame. Well might he mourn
His bride and babes, left stricken and forlorn;
His cause deserted, and his country: still
He left the fame so nobly won and worn,
Conscious and sad, the duellist's grave to fill:
False honor's loud call drowned the voice—Thou shalt not kill!
Thus sank the star that from our country's brow
Beamed with immortal radiance! And the gain,
What was it, of his cold, man-hating foe?
He fled from infamy, a wandering Cain;
His life a torture, and his name a stain!
When will true Honor's sons to teach unite
That coward Wrong alone incurs disdain;
That only deeds which Heaven approves are bright:
That courage bides with Truth, and Honor lives in Right!
Beamed with immortal radiance! And the gain,
What was it, of his cold, man-hating foe?
He fled from infamy, a wandering Cain;
His life a torture, and his name a stain!
When will true Honor's sons to teach unite
That coward Wrong alone incurs disdain;
That only deeds which Heaven approves are bright:
That courage bides with Truth, and Honor lives in Right!
Philadelphia, September, 1854.
- ↑ Alexander Hamilton.
