A Child of the People And Other Poems. By James Chapman Woods |
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QUI PALMAM MERUIT. |
 | A Child of the People |  |
164
QUI PALMAM MERUIT.
Take hence the golden scroll of deeds sublime;
This is no roll of heroes: private hate
Sped oft the thrust that freed a fettered State.
Anon, the strangling needs that cursed the time
Anointed cowards or ennobled crime.
For Fame's sake half the martyrs sought their fate.
How many stumbled on the thing called great,
Or deemed the deed predestined from the prime?
This is no roll of heroes: private hate
Sped oft the thrust that freed a fettered State.
Anon, the strangling needs that cursed the time
Anointed cowards or ennobled crime.
For Fame's sake half the martyrs sought their fate.
How many stumbled on the thing called great,
Or deemed the deed predestined from the prime?
Be his the palm who sees the need arise,
And, since none other will, for others' gain
Sets hands unto the task, because it lies
Within the compass of his heart and brain.
Writ in the mighty roll of winds and skies,
About his head Heaven's wreaths shall fall like rain!
And, since none other will, for others' gain
Sets hands unto the task, because it lies
Within the compass of his heart and brain.
Writ in the mighty roll of winds and skies,
About his head Heaven's wreaths shall fall like rain!
| A Child of the People | |