Poems (Angier)/The Martyr

by Annie Lanman Angier

THE MARTYR.

Not only is the martyr one
 Who seals his faith with fight;
Who yields his life without a groan,
 When battling for the right;
The anxious heart a martyr is,
 The soul cast down with fear,
Lest some who should the truth receive
 The truth refuse to hear.

A martyr will the sooner bear
 To feel the scorching flame,
Or rack that waits his flesh to tear,
 Than yield to wrong or shame;
The seeming martyr will conceal
 Those secrets of the mind,
Which Heaven may to the sight reveal,
 As light breaks on the blind;

The real martyr will not hide
 The sacred rays of truth;
He'll brave the scorn, contempt, and pride
 Of old age and of youth.
He only asks the cause to see
 Why honest thought should shrink,
To side with one, whoe'er he be,
 That dares to speak and think.

Then be a martyr-spirit thine
 Which aims the age to guide;
That bids the sun of Progress shine.
 And seeks no wrong to hide;
But be thy weapons gentle words,
 Thy shield, a heart that's brave;
No spot more sacred blesses earth
 Than the humble martyr's grave.