Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow heroism. - The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 9 (Poems)

Return to Title Page for The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 9 (Poems)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature

heroism. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, vol. 9 (Poems) [1909]

Edition used:

The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in 12 vols. Fireside Edition (Boston and New York, 1909).

Part of: The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, in 12 vols. (Fireside Edition).

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


heroism.

    • Ruby wine is drunk by knaves,
    • Sugar spends to fatten slaves,
    • Rose and vine-leaf deck buffoons;
    • Thunder-clouds are Jove's festoons,
    • Drooping oft in wreaths of dread,
    • Lightning-knotted round his head;
    • The hero is not fed on sweets,
    • Daily his own heart he eats;
    • Chambers of the great are jails,
    • And head-winds right for royal sails.