04.11.2013, 19:40
TO BENJAMIN LUNDY.
Self-taught, unaided, poor, reviled, contemned —
Beset with enemies, by friends betrayed ;
As madman and fanatic oft condemned,
Yet in thy noble cause still undismayed !
Leonidas could not thy courage boast ;
Less num'rous were his foes, his band more strong ;
Alone, unto a more than Persian host,
Thou hast undauntedly given battle long.
Nor shalt thou singly wage th' unequal strife ;
Unto thy aid, with spear and shield, I rush,
And freely do I offer up my life,
And bid my heart's blood find a wound to gush !
New volunteers are trooping to the field —
To die we are prepared — but not an inch to yield !
Self-taught, unaided, poor, reviled, contemned —
Beset with enemies, by friends betrayed ;
As madman and fanatic oft condemned,
Yet in thy noble cause still undismayed !
Leonidas could not thy courage boast ;
Less num'rous were his foes, his band more strong ;
Alone, unto a more than Persian host,
Thou hast undauntedly given battle long.
Nor shalt thou singly wage th' unequal strife ;
Unto thy aid, with spear and shield, I rush,
And freely do I offer up my life,
And bid my heart's blood find a wound to gush !
New volunteers are trooping to the field —
To die we are prepared — but not an inch to yield !