James Thomas Fields

To a Friend

Go, with a manly heart,
   ⁠Where courage leads the brave,—
High thoughts, not years, have stamped their part,
   ⁠Who shunned the coward's grave.

Clear, to the eye of youth,
⁠   Their record stands enrolled,
Who held aloft the flag of Truth,
⁠   Nor slept beneath its fold.

They heard the trumpet sound
⁠   Where hosts to battle trod,
And marched along that burning ground;
   ⁠Fear not! they rest with God.

Like them advance in love,
   ⁠And upward bend thy sight;
Win Faith through Prayer; He rules above
⁠   Who still protects the right.