A Memorial Day Poem

Winston Churchill sent this poem to Franklin Roosevelt to inspire him. A fitting tribute to those who face fears and sacrifice personal hopes and dreams for the benefit of the many, so those who come after can inherit that 'bright land.' Remembering all those who struggled for our country on this Memorial Day.

Arthur Hugh Clough. 1819–1861

741. Say not the Struggle Naught availeth

SAY not the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.
If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;	5
It may be, in yon smoke conceal'd,
Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,	10
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light;
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly!	15
But westward, look, the land is bright! http://www.bartleby.com/101/741.html