Betwixt the Foe and France was she -- <br />France the immortal, France the free. <br />The Foe, like one vast living sea, <br />Drew nigh. <br />He dreamed that none his tide would stay; <br />But when he bade her to make way, <br />She, through her cannon, answered, 'Nay, <br />Not I.' <br /> <br />No tremor and no fear she showed; <br />She held the pass, she barred the road, <br />While Death's unsleeping feet bestrode <br />The ground. <br />So long as deeds of noblest worth <br />Are sung with joy, and tears, and mirth, <br />Her glory shall to the ends of the Earth <br />Resound. <br /> <br />Watched by a world that yearned to aid, <br />Lonely she stood but undismayed. <br />Resplendent was the part she played, <br />And pure. <br />Praised be her heroes, proud her sons! <br />She threw her soul into the guns, <br />Her name shall, with the loveliest ones, <br />Endure.<br /><br />William Watson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/liege/
