 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
I.
He may of battles well discourse, my son,Who hath beheld a hundred lost and won;
And who, through fields where warring thousands bled,
Hath often charged—retreated—rallied—led.
But that which roused the slumbering camp to strife,
Was more a struggle stern for death or life,
By men surprised in sleep, and unprepared,
Who bravely fought, yet while they fought, despaired,
Than ordered field which practised Leaders like
To gaze upon—before a blow they strike;
Where marshalled rank to rank their fronts oppose,
And all is dreadful beauty—till they close!
| The Poetical Works of Robert Story | |