Forget not the field where they perish'd, <br />The truest, the last of the brave, <br />All gone -- and the bright hope we cherish'd <br />Gone with them, and quench'd in their grave! <br /> <br />Oh! could we from death but recover <br />Those hearts as they bounded before, <br />In the face of high heaven to fight over <br />That combat for freedom once more; -- <br /> <br />Could the chain for an instant be riven <br />Which Tyranny flung round us then, <br />No, 'tis not in Man, nor in Heaven, <br />To let Tyranny bind it again! <br /> <br />But 'tis past -- and, though blazon'd in story <br />The name of our Victor may be, <br />Accurst is the march of that glory <br />Which treads o'er the hearts of the free. <br /> <br />For dearer the grave or the prison, <br />Illumed by one patriot name, <br />Than the trophies of all who have risen <br />On Liberty's ruins to fame.<br /><br />Thomas Moore<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/forget-not-the-field/
