Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

William James Linton 1812–97

Our Cause

Linton-W

SO, 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.

And though detraction’s flood we proudly breast,

Or, weakening, sink in that unfathom’d sea,

Ever we ’ll keep aloft our banner, lest

Even the black spray soil its purity.

My life be branded and my name be flung

To infamy;—beloved, I will wear

Thy beauty on my shield, till even the tongue

Of falsehood echo truth, and own thee fair.