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Poems (Craik)/A True Hero

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4507053Poems — A True HeroDinah Maria Craik
A TRUE HERO.
JAMES BRAIDWOOD: Died June 22, 1861.
NOT at the battle front,—writ of in story; Not on the blazing wreck steering to glory; {{{text}}}Not while in martyr-pangs soul and flesh sever, Died he—this Hero new; hero forever.
No pomp poetic crowned, no forms enchained him, No friends applauding watched, no foes arraigned him:
Death found him there, without grandeur or beauty, Only an honest man doing his duty:
Just a God-fearing man, simple and lowly, Constant at kirk and hearth, kindly as holy:
Death found—and touched him with finger in flying:—Lo! he rose up complete—hero undying.
Now, all men mourn for him, lovingly raise him Up from his life obscure, chronicle, praise him;
Tell his last act, done midst peril appalling, And the last word of cheer from his lips falling;
Follow in multitudes to his grave's portal; Leave him there, buried in honor immortal.
So many a Hero walks unseen beside us, Till comes the supreme stroke sent to divide us.
Then the Lord calls His own,—like this man, even, Carried, Elijah-like, fire-winged, to heaven.