I pray thee, Lord, that when it comes to me
To say if I will follow truth and Thee,
Or choose instead to win, as better worth
My pains, some cloying recompense of earth--
Grant me, great Father, from a hard-fought field,
Forspent and bruised, upon a battered shield,
Home to obscure endurance to be borne
Rather than live my own mean gains to scorn.
--Edward Sandford Martin.