| Higginson and Bigelow, comps. American Sonnets. 1891. | | | | Florence Nightingale | | By Richard Henry Stoddard (1825–1903) |
| | | ENGLAND, if Time from out the Book of Fame | |
| Should blot the desperate valor of thy men | |
| In the Crimea, an Englishwoman’s name, | |
| As sweet as ever came from poets’ pen, | |
| Would still defy him,—Florence Nightingale! | 5 |
| Honor to that fair girl, whose pitying heart | |
| Led her across the sea, to ease the smart | |
| Of soldier wounds, and hush the soldier’s wail. | |
| Men can be great when great occasions call: | |
| In little duties women find their spheres, | 10 |
| The narrow cares that cluster round the hearth; | |
| But this dear woman wipes a woman’s tears, | |
| And wears the crown of womanhood for all. | |
| Happy the land that gave such goodness birth! | | | | |
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