| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| The Deserter from the Cause |
| | | Gerald Massey (b. 1828) |
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| HE is gone: better so. We should know who stand under | |
| Our banner: let none but the trusty remain! | |
| For there ’s stern work at hand, and the time comes shall sunder | |
| The shell from the pearl, and the chaff from the grain. | |
| And the heart that through danger and death will be dutiful, | 5 |
| Soul that with Cranmer in fire would shake hands, | |
| With a life like a palace-home built for the beautiful, | |
| Freedom of all her beloved demands. | |
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| He is gone from us! Yet shall we march on victorious, | |
| Hearts burning like beacons—eyes fix’d on the goal! | 10 |
| And if we fall fighting, we fall like the glorious, | |
| With face to the stars, and all heaven in the soul. | |
| And aye for the brave stir of battle we ’ll barter | |
| The sword of life sheath’d in the peace of the grave; | |
| And better the fieriest fate of the martyr, | 15 |
| Than live like the coward, and die like the slave! | |
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