Oh for the swords of former time! <br />Oh for the men who bore them, <br />When, arm'd for Right, they stood sublime, <br />And tyrants crouch'd before them: <br />When free yet, ere courts began <br />With honours to enslave him, <br />The best honours worn by Man <br />Were those which Virtue gave him. <br />Oh for the swords, etc., etc. <br /> <br />Oh for the Kings who flourish'd then! <br />Oh for the pomp that crown'd them, <br />When hearts and hands of freeborn men <br />Were all the ramparts round them. <br />When, safe built on bosoms true, <br />The throne was but the centre, <br />Round which Love a circle drew <br />That Treason durst not enter. <br />Oh, for the Kings who flourish'd then! <br />Oh for the pomp that crown'd them, <br />When hearts and hands of freeborn men <br />Were all the ramparts round them!<br /><br />Thomas Moore<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/oh-for-the-swords-of-former-time/
