Page:Poems Terry, 1861.djvu/131

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VI ET ARMIS.
My soul be strong! confront thy life,
Nor feebly moan with weak complaint;
Arouse to wage the mortal strife,
Thou shrinking coward, pale and faint!

Look up at truth's unchanging face;
That brow, though stern, is yet serene;
And sometimes, for the heart of grace,
On those calm lips a smile hath been.

The warrior on the battle-field
Lingers no more to look behind,
But raises high his bossy shield,
And casts his banner to the wind.

It will not serve thee to delay;
Shall the wide ocean cease to roar,
Because thy wild and dangerous way
Lies to its dimly visioned shore?