Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Noblesse Oblige
By Robert Underwood Johnson (1853–1937)[Born in Washington, D.C., 1853. Died in New York, N. Y., 1937. The Century Magazine. 1883–89.]
W
He conquers not who does not conquer hate,
Or thinks the shining wheels of heaven wait
On his forgiving. Dimmer the laurel shows
On brows that darken; and war-won repose
Is but a truce when heroes abdicate
To Huns—unfabling those of elder date
Whose every corse a fiercer warrior rose.
O ye that saved the land! Ah yes, and ye
That bless its saving! Neither need forget
The price our destiny did of both demand—
Toil, want, wounds, prison, and the lonely sea
Of tears at home. Oh, look on these. And yet—
Before the human fail you—quick! your hand!