Sedan (Coates)
SEDAN
By Florence Earle Coates
of The Vigilantes
(The battle of Sedan, ending Sept. 2, 1870, in an overwhelming victory for the Prussians and the capture of the Emperor Napoleon III, was the decisive battle of the Franco-Prussian War.)
How terrible the victory
That undermines the soul!
How better, better far to fail—
To falter from the goal,
And with a brave acceptance meet
The triumph of a high defeat!
France!—generous Land beloved of all!
More glorious made through pain,
Sedan beheld thy loss,—not fall,
And taught how men may gain
Conquests that base desires impart,
Corrupt the will, and rob the heart!
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1927, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 96 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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