IO VICTIS by W. W. Story

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 30, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 18.

IO VICTIS.

By W. W. Story

BY W. W. STORY.

I sing the hymn of the conquered, who fell in the battle of life— The hymn of the wounded, the beaten, who died overwhelmed in the strife; Not the jubilant song of the victors, for whom the resounding acclaim Of nations was lifted in chorus, whose brows wore the chaplet of fame— But the hymn of the low and the humble, the weary, the broken in heart, Who strove and who failed, acting bravely a silent and desperate part; Whose youth bore no flower in its branches, whose hopes burned in ashes away, From whose hands slipped the prize they had grasped, who stood at the dying of day With the work of their life all around them, uplifted, unheeded, alone, With death swooping down o’er their failure, and all but their faith overthrown. While the voice of the world shouts its chorus, its paean for those who have won— While the trumpet is sounding triumphant, and high to the breeze and the sun Gay banners are waving, hands clapping, and hurrying feet Thronging after the laurel-crowned victors—I stand on the field of defeat, In the shadow, ’mongst those who are fallen, and wounded, and dying—and there Chant a requiem low, place my hand on their pain-knotted brows, breathe a prayer, Hold the hand that is helpless, and whisper, “They only the victory win Who have fought the good fight, and have vanquished the demon that tempts us within; Who have held to their faith, unseduced by the prize that the world holds on high; Who have dared for a high cause to suffer, resist, fight—if need be, to die.” Speak, history! Who are life’s victors? Unroll thy long annals and say— Are they those whom the world called the victors, who won the success of the day? The martyrs or Nero? The Spartans, who fell at Thermopylae’s tryst? Or the Persians and Xerxes? His judges or Socrates? Pilate, or Christ? —Blackwood’s Magazine.