Patriots have toil'd, and in their country's cause Bled nobly; and their deeds, as they deserve, Receive proud recompense. We give in charge Their names to the sweet lyre. The Historic Muse, Proud of the treasure, marches with it down To latest times; and Sculpture, in her turn, Gives bond in stone and ever-during brass To guard them, and to immortalize her trust. But fairer wreaths are due--though never paid-- To those who, posted at the shrine of Truth, Have fallen in her defence. A patriot's blood, Well spent in such a strife, may earn indeed, And for a time ensure, to his loved land The sweets of liberty and equal laws; But martyrs struggle for a brighter prize, And win it with more pain. Their blood is shed In confirmation of the noblest claim,-- Our claim to feed upon immortal truth, To walk with God, to be divinely free, To soar and to anticipate the skies.-- Yet few remember them! They lived unknown, Till persecution dragged them into fame, And chased them up to Heaven. Their ashes flew-- No marble tells us whither. With their names No bard embalms and sanctifies his song; And History, so warm on meaner themes, Is cold on this. She execrates indeed The tyranny that doom'd them to the fire, But gives the glorious sufferers little praise. COWPER. [Notes:_William Cowper_ (born 1731, died 1800), the author of 'The Task,' 'Progress of Error,' 'Truth,' and many other poems; all marked by the same pure thought and chaste language. This poem is written in what is called "blank verse," i.e., verse in which the lines do not rhyme, the rhythm depending on the measure of the verse. _To the sweet lyre_ = To the poet, whose lyre (or poetry) is to keep their names alive. _The Historic Muse_. The ancients held that there were nine Muses or Goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences; and of these, one was the Muse of History. _Gives bond in stone, &c._ = Pledges herself. The pith of the phrase is in its almost homely simplicity, the more striking in its contrast with the classical allusions by which it is surrounded. _Her trust_, i.e., what is trusted to her. _To anticipate the skies_ = to ennoble our life and so approach that higher life we hope for after death. _Till persecution dragged them into fame_ = forced them by its cruelty to become famous against their will. _No marble tells us whither_. Because they have no tombstone and no epitaph.] * * * * * A PSALM OF LIFE. Tell me not in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem. Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal; "Dust thou art, to dust returnest;" Was not spoken of the soul.