 | Words by the Wayside |  |
94
By the Graves on the Veldt
Spare them your pity, 'tis unmeet.
O deem not that they died in vain
Who in the hour of dark defeat
With thriftless valour strewed the plain!
O deem not that they died in vain
Who in the hour of dark defeat
With thriftless valour strewed the plain!
Life freely given, and duty done—
What'er the hours shall mar or make,
The sum of all beneath the sun
Henceforth is nobler for their sake.
What'er the hours shall mar or make,
The sum of all beneath the sun
Henceforth is nobler for their sake.
Spare them your honours, let them rest,
Let earthly fame forget them now:
No need of cross upon the breast,
Or laurel to renown the brow:
Let earthly fame forget them now:
No need of cross upon the breast,
Or laurel to renown the brow:
Though the bare Veldt around them spread,
Not all unnoted of the skies
There springs above each hero-head
The snow-white flower of sacrifice.
Not all unnoted of the skies
There springs above each hero-head
The snow-white flower of sacrifice.
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