Brave Hearts

By Charles Swain

Brave hearts bend not so soon to care—
Firm minds uplift the load of fate;
They bear what others shrink to bear,
And boldly any doom await!
They rise above what would oppress
A weaker spirit to the ground;
And, though they feel no jot the less,
Their sorrows scorn to breathe a sound.
Oh! heroes have we still on earth,
Worth all the boasted blood of Rome;
And heroines, whose suffering worth
Lends grace to many a humble home.
Great hearts endurance cannot bend;
Nor daily care, nor trial, tame;
But these nor ask, nor gain, a friend—
Nor seek, nor ever find, a name!