Monday, May 27, 2013

Memorial Day and Heroes


Memorial Day Commemoration 2008
Originally uploaded by davidyuweb

Poem "In an Age of Fops and Toys" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Please read it all, the last two lines will make your heart sing.

In an age of fops and toys,
Wanting wisdom, void of right,
Who shall nerve heroic boys
To hazard all in Freedom’s fight, ---
Break sharply off their jolly games,
Forsake their comrades gay
And quit proud homes and youthful dames
For famine, toil and fray?
Yet on the nimble air benign
Speed nimbler messages,
That waft the breath of grace divine
To hearts in sloth and ease,
So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, Thou must,
The youth replies, I can.

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

8 comments:

Denise said...

Awesome, glad you shared.

Strawberry Lane said...

Wonderful! Wonderful!

Nellie said...

Wonderful poem by Emerson!

Buttercup said...

Terra, I remember this poem from my high school days when I read a lot of poetry. Thanks for bringing it back to me.

Diane Writes said...

Hi Terra! Thank you for dropping by my blog. Hope you had a great holiday.

In my country though, we celebrate Memorial Day on an earlier date.

I hope to see more pictures from your beautiful garden :)

Have a great week!

Tete said...

Beautiful.

Laurie said...

I've never read this one, Terra. Perfect for Memorial Day. Hope you enjoyed your week-end.

BECKY said...

Perfect post for today. Thanks for stopping by my blog, too, Terra!