Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79. | | | | Belgium: Waterloo | | Waterloo | | Henry Alford (1810–1871) |
| | | THEY stood upon these plains, and side by side | |
| Did battle for the world, too long enthralled | |
| To the universal tyrant; one was called, | |
| And one was left to cross the homeward tide: | |
| Both in their glory, as in arms allied: | 5 |
| But the loud voice of fame is hushed asleep, | |
| Their sires are gone, no more their widows weep, | |
| Their orphan sons forget them in their pride. | |
| Yet deem not that they sold their lives for naught: | |
| Who, that hath springing in his breast the fount | 10 |
| Of self-devoting love, the cost would count, | |
| So might he in those favored ranks have fought, | |
| Increasing by his single strength’s amount | |
| That blessed victory for freedom wrought? | | | | |
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