Explore "National Monuments (Pro Patria)" by Henry Van Dyke on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Count not the cost of honour to the dead! / The tribute that a mighty nation pays / To those who loved her well in former days / Means more than gratitude for glories fled; / For every noble man that she hath bred, / Lives in the bronze and marble that we raise, / Immortalized by art's immortal praise, / To lead our sons as he our fathers led.
These monuments of manhood strong and high / Do more than forts or battle-ships to keep / Our dear-bought liberty. They fortify / The heart of youth with valour wise and deep; / They build eternal bulwarks, and command / Eternal strength to guard our native land.