| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Our Cause |
| | | William James Linton (1812–97) |
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| SO, 1 Freedom, thy great quarrel may we serve, | |
| With truest zeal that, sensitive of blame, | |
| Ever thy holy banner would preserve | |
| As pure as woman’s love or knightly fame. | |
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| And though detraction’s flood we proudly breast, | 5 |
| Or, weakening, sink in that unfathom’d sea, | |
| Ever we ’ll keep aloft our banner, lest | |
| Even the black spray soil its purity. | |
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| My life be branded and my name be flung | |
| To infamy;—beloved, I will wear | 10 |
| Thy beauty on my shield, till even the tongue | |
| Of falsehood echo truth, and own thee fair. | |
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