 | The complete poetical writings of J. G. Holland |  |
XIII.
Though Philip knew he wounded her,
His faith to God and faith to man
Bade him go forward, and incur
Such cost as, since the world began,
Has burdened Freedom's harbinger.
His faith to God and faith to man
Bade him go forward, and incur
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Has burdened Freedom's harbinger.
No heart or hand was his to flinch
From case or reputation lost;
Nor waste of gold, nor hunger-pinch,
Nor e'en his home's black holocaust,
Could stay his arm. Though inch by inch,
From case or reputation lost;
Nor waste of gold, nor hunger-pinch,
Nor e'en his home's black holocaust,
Could stay his arm. Though inch by inch,
The maddened hosts of scorn and scath
Should crowd him backward to defeat,
He would but strive with sterner wrath,
And bless the hand that, soft and sweet,
Withheld its hinderance from his path!
Should crowd him backward to defeat,
He would but strive with sterner wrath,
And bless the hand that, soft and sweet,
Withheld its hinderance from his path!
| The complete poetical writings of J. G. Holland | |