Poem by William Gilmore Simms

The Decay of a People

THIS the true sign of ruin to a race —  
 It undertakes no march, and day by day  
Drowses in camp, or, with the laggard’s pace,  
 Walks sentry o’er possessions that decay;  
 Destined, with sensible waste, to fleet away; —
For the first secret of continued power  
 Is the continued conquest; — all our sway  
Hath surety in the uses of the hour;  
If that we waste, in vain walled town and lofty tower!

1. Sumter in Ruins
2. Song Bird and Flower
3. The Lost Pleiad
4. Song in March
5. The Swamp Fox

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