Horatius at the Bridge

But the Consul's brow was sad, / And the Consul's speech was low, / And darkly looked he at the wall, / And darkly at the foe. / "Their van will be upon us / Before the bridge goes down; / And if they once may win the bridge, / What hope to save the town?"

Then out spake brave Horatius, / The Captain of the Gate; / "To every man upon this earth / Death cometh soon or late / And how can man die better / Than facing fearful odds, / For the ashes of his fathers, / And the temples of his gods.

And for the tender mother / Who dandled him to rest, / And for the wife who nurses / His baby at her breast, / And for the holy maidens / Who feed the eternal flame, / To save them from false Sextus / That wrought the deed of shame?

"Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul, / With all the speed ye may; / I, with two more to help me, / Will hold the foe in play. / In yon strait path a thousand / May well be stopped by three. / Now who will stand on either hand, / And keep the bridge with me?"

• pp. 13-14 (1922)

For Romans in Rome's quarrel / Spared neither land nor gold, / Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life, / In the brave days of old.

Then none was for a party; / Then all were for the state; / Then the great man helped the poor, / And the poor man loved the great; / Then lands were fairly portioned; / Then spoils were fairly sold; / The Romans were like brothers / In the brave days of old.

Now Roman is to Roman / More hateful than a foe, / And the Tribunes beard the high, / And the Fathers grind the low. / As we wax hot in faction, / In battle we wax cold: / Wherefore men fight not as they fought / In the brave days of old.

• pp. 15-16 (1922)