Edwin Markham describes a noble type of man in the following poem:
Give thanks, O heart, for the high souls
That point us to the deathless goals--
For all the courage of their cry
That echoes down from sky to sky;
Thanksgiving for the armed seers
And heroes called to mortal years--
Souls that have built our faith in man,
And lit the ages as they ran.
Made of unpurchasable stuff.
They went the way when ways were rough;
They, when the traitors had deceived,
Held the long purpose, and believed;
They, when the face of God grew dim,
Held through the dark and trusted Him--
Brave souls that fought the mortal way
And felt that faith could not betray.
Give thanks for heroes that have stirred
Earth with the wonder of a word.
But all thanksgiving for the breed
Who have bent destiny with deed--
Souls of the high, heroic birth,
Souls sent to poise the shaken earth,
And then called back to God again
To make heaven possible for men. (Text.)
--_The Independent._
(1308)