 | Poems of "Frank Forester" (Henry William Herbert) |  |
[II. Not that he was the chiefest of her men]
Not that he was the chiefest of her menIn battle's hurly; not that his right hand
Beat back the imperial giant's baffled band,
From Douro's bank to Bidassoa's glen;
Not that the vanquished eagles backward flew,
While Prussia's vengeful trumpets tore the air,
To France presaging quiet and despair,
From the red field of deathless Waterloo;
Not that he conquered every stricken fight;
Not that he never lost an English gun,—
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But that he was strong Duty's iron son,
Severe in truth, sublimely stern in right,
Pre-eminently English Wellington.
| Poems of "Frank Forester" (Henry William Herbert) | |