Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By John VanceCheney

1005 The Strong

DOST deem him weak that owns his strength is tried?

Nay, we may safely lean on him that grieves:

The pine has immemorially sighed,

The enduring poplar’s are the trembling leaves.

To feel, and bow the head, is not to fear;

To cheat with jest—that is the coward’s art:

Beware the laugh that battles back the tear;

He ’s false to all that ’s traitor to his heart.

He of great deeds does grope amid the throng

Like him whose steps toward Dagon’s temple bore;

There ’s ever something sad about the strong—

A look, a moan, like that on ocean’s shore.