English poem
The Martial Courage Of A Day Is Vain
Composed 1810?[A]--Published 1815
The martial courage of a day is vain, An empty noise of death the battle's roar, If vital hope be wanting to restore, Or fortitude be wanting to sustain, Armies or kingdoms. We have heard a strain Of triumph, how the labouring Danube bore A weight of hostile corses: drenched with gore Were the wide fields, the hamlets heaped with slain. Yet see (the mighty tumult overpast) Austria a Daughter of her Throne hath sold! And her Tyrolean Champion we behold Murdered, like one ashore by shipwreck cast, Murdered without relief. Oh! blind as bold, To think that such assurance can stand fast!
More by William Wordsworth
- The Fairest, Brightest, Hues Of Ether Fade
- The Gallant Youth, Who May Have Gained
- The Kirk Of Ulpha To The Pilgrim'S Eye
- The Leaves That Rustled On This Oak-Crowned Hill
- The Massy Ways, Carried Across These Heights
- The Power Of Armies Is A Visible Thing
- The Shepherd, Looking Eastward, Softly Said
- The Stars Are Mansions Built By Nature'S Hand