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Showing posts with the label Longfellow

duty (Longfellow)

 “Do [your] duty; that is best; leave unto [the] Lord the rest. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Legend Beautiful,” in  The Complete Poetical Works of Longfellow  (1893), 258.

Morituri Salutamus

Morituri Salutamus ...In mediaeval Rome, I know not where,  There stood an image with its arm in air,  And on its lifted finger, shining clear,  A golden ring with the device, "Strike here!"  Greatly the people wondered, though none guessed  The meaning that these words but half expressed,  Until a learned clerk, who at noonday With downcast eyes was passing on his way,  Paused, and observed the spot, and marked it well,  Whereon the shadow of the finger fell;  And, coming back at midnight, delved, and found  A secret stairway leading underground.  Down this he passed into a spacious hall,  Lit by a flaming jewel on the wall;  And opposite, in threatening attitude,  With bow and shaft a brazen statue stood.  Upon its forehead, like a coronet,  Were these mysterious words of menace set:  "That which I am, I am; my fatal aim  None can escape, not even yon luminous flame!" Midway the hall was a fair table placed,  With cloth of gold, and golden cups enchased  With r