III.

And thou, of whom I sing--what should we all, Whate'er our state-creed, venerate in thee? Purpose heroic; and majestical Disdain of self;--the soul in which we see Conviction, welding, from the furnace-zeal, Duty, the iron mainspring of the mind; Ardour, if fierce, yet fired for England's weal; And man's strong heart-throb beating for mankind. These move our homage, doubtful though we be If ev'n thy pen acquits the headman's steel, When thy page cites the crownless Dead--and pleads Defence for nations in a judgeless cause: Judgeless, for time shall ne'er decide what deeds Damn or absolve the hosts whom Freedom leads O'er the pale border-land of dying laws Into the vague world of Necessity.