What is the prize the hero seeks to win?
And there be prizes won in quiet ways,
Unhonored by the nation's gala days,
As great as any won midst battle din.
What then this prize the hero fain would gain,
So mortal life, and all that in it lies
Of treasure, duty, or most sacred ties
Bind him with greed, or pride, or love, in vain?
Ah! brother, 'tis a joy you may not know
Till you have touched his robe who, long ago,
Won for himself and proved for us the life
That walks serene amid earth's fiercest strife,
Bearing the truth made manifest in deeds,
Meeting with love divine all human needs.
