"Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
"To
every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And
how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the
ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods,
...
" "Haul down the bridge, Sir Consul,
With all the speed ye
may;
I, with two more to help me,
Will hold the foe in
play.
In yon strait path a thousand
May well be stopped by
three.
Now who will stand on either hand,
And keep the
bridge with me?"
-from
Horatius, by Macauley