 | Flower o' the thorn |  |
XXI. A NAMELESS HERO.
SINCE Saul on Gilboa laid him down to die,Since at Thermopylae, in battle set,
Leonidas the Persian onslaught met
With death-devoted breast, in days gone by,
So, in our own, unasking how or why,
Unnumbered heroes, dying, Life's last debt
Have paid to mother-country. Dulce et
Decorum est pro patriâ mori.
—Yet, most of all who for their native land
Life's service with Death's seal have certified,
The speech of that rude soldier stirs my mood,
Who, gasping out upon the Afric sand
His soul, with choked lungs muttered, “England's good
Enough to die for, isn't she?” And died.
| Flower o' the thorn | |