Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By Sarah Morgan BryanPiatt672 Tradition of Conquest
H
Though battle-lightnings proved his worth,
Was scathed like others, in his day,
By fiercer fires at his own hearth.
Madam, the Duchess, was so fair,—
In Blenheim’s honors felt less pride
Than in the lady’s lovely hair.
Her lord when he should pass, ’t is said),
Shining across his path he found
The glory of the woman’s head.
In all his after days, confessed
He missed the charm whose absence took
A scar’s pale shape within his breast.
And soothe him with imperious tears:—
As if her beauty were the same,
He praised her through his courteous years.
Among the dead man’s treasures, where
He laid it as from moth and rust,
They found his wayward wife’s sweet hair.