A Weak People
What people, who with rights endowed, That through the years no king has cowed, Who reap the benefits so blest That men of yore, in fiery test Have gained for their posterity, That they should know how to be free, And live, and work, and future grasp, Without a fear of tyrants past: What people, then, of trust so great, Then pawns away their children’s fate, And casts aside the truths of old For love of leisure, ease, and gold? Such cowardice no culture keeps, Nor ought a place of honor seek; Forsook they swift their duty, now Their offspring bears the awful blow.