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 | The Poems of Richard Watson Gilder |  |
THE BLAMELESS KNIGHT
Where led the bright and blameless plume
We charged the shameless foe;
Whether to win or lose our doom
We never cared to know.
We charged the shameless foe;
Whether to win or lose our doom
We never cared to know.
His voice was as a scimitar,
Superb and sure his stroke;
And where he came their men-of-war
In panic fury broke.
Superb and sure his stroke;
And where he came their men-of-war
In panic fury broke.
Once more we gathered for the fight
Against the ranks of shame;
Again we called the blameless knight
And cheered him as he came.
Against the ranks of shame;
Again we called the blameless knight
And cheered him as he came.
But, God of grace! not with us now
Our valiant knight doth go:
A plume of black above his brow—
He leads the shameless foe!
Our valiant knight doth go:
A plume of black above his brow—
He leads the shameless foe!
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They are the same, that shameful horde,
The same their shameless song;
Beneath his shield they draw the sword
For rapine and for wrong.
The same their shameless song;
Beneath his shield they draw the sword
For rapine and for wrong.
Fight on! fight on! brave comrades all,
Nor weep the blameless knight;
They cannot fail, what tho' they fall,
Who battle for the right.
Nor weep the blameless knight;
They cannot fail, what tho' they fall,
Who battle for the right.
One Captain less in our good war,
But see! a thousand spring
Intent as never men before
To strike the Accursèd Thing.
But see! a thousand spring
Intent as never men before
To strike the Accursèd Thing.
| The Poems of Richard Watson Gilder | |