Peaceful Conquerors

   O, not from the rolling drum
     Or shriek of the martial fife
Shall the spirit-stirring challenge come
     To the battle-field of Life
   Deep down in a silent thought
     Is the whispered summons given
Whose vibrant echo is only caught
     In the utmost dome of heaven.

   It asks no weapons of steel
     Nor bolts by the founder cast;
No proud three-deckers that rock & reel
     With the broadside’s rending blast;
   For the souls who dare be true
     To the hallowed law of love
Have a weapon keener than seraphs drew
   From the armories hall above.
They win as the suitor wins
     By gaining a dearer friend;
What does are slain are the darling sins
     That only the bad defend.
   The vanquished jointhe host
     Of the victors, alive crowned;
Such whole defeat is the proudest boast
     Of the conqured, heavenward bound.

   No fame has a star more bright
     Than shines on his manly breast
Whose frank surrender to struggling Right
     Has made him utterly blest.
   The hero who dies for man,
     Though his weapons were fire & steel,
Is honored in that true blood which ran
     For the truth & human weal.

   But a garland more divine
     On his dauntless brow shall press
Whose arms with a peaceful glory shine,
     Whom the sons of mercy bless.
   Brave champion of the weak,
     Of the true who stood alone,
For the Prince of Peace he dares to speak
     When the trumpets of war are blown.

   Through [?] a fate the assassin gives
     He meet from a lurking foe,
The life he has lived is the life that lives
     And moves when his form is low.
   To the faithful comes no loss,
     His trust is centered above;
The grandest triumph was plucked from a Cross—
     The reign [?] of measureless love!