The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay With Illustrations by John Gilbert |
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WHO'D RATHER BE OPPRESS'D THAN FIGHT? |
 | The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay |  |
113
WHO'D RATHER BE OPPRESS'D THAN FIGHT?
I
Who'd rather be oppress'd than fight?Low, low, low, let him lie!
Let him feed among the sheep
Where the meadow-waters creep,
Growing fat till the danger's nigh.
Not for him or such as he
To hold council with the free;
Let him browse while the wolf is in its den;—
And thank his happy fate,
When the foe is at the gate,
That he lives in the sight of men.
II
Who'd purchase peace at honour's loss?Low, low, low, let him lie!
He was born to be a slave;
His own soul his fetters gave;
He's a fool for a knave to buy.
Not for him a word to breathe
When the brave their swords unsheathe,
And Peril calls to Duty, saying “Come!”
In the council he'd betray,
In the fight he'd run away;
Let him grovel in the dirt and be dumb.
114
III
Who values honour more than life?High, high, high, let him stand!
We have need of such as he,
The defenders of the free,—
The glory and the pride of the land.
When a coward sues for peace,
Though awhile the war may cease,
'Tis but respite that he begs from the strong;
But the peace that heroes gain,
In the fiery battle-plain,
Shall defy the world to break it—in the wrong.
| The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay | |