ALBERT OF BELGIUM
True victor thou, heroic Belgian King,
Albert, who wouldst not traffic in thy crown!
A Kingdom's heirloom goes thy glory down,
And with thy people's praise all countries ring;
Thee and thy folk shall unborn poets sing,
And age to age repeat thy just renown,
Who held the peril of an empire's frown
With thy land's honor matched, an idle thing.
But rather of the crown that grows not old
Thy thought, who others saved, saving thine own,
And left this wisdom to thy little state:
Put not thy trust in armies nor in gold,
Nor on proud navies set the people's throne,
But by the justice of thy cause be great!
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