<> Conary Linen Hall Library 1880 Linen Hall Library Saturday, March 12, 2016 TIFF Ferg023 Manuscript Brooch, Comrades, Brave English https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/content/ferg023 Linen Hall Library Linen Hall Library Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA https://www.niliteraryarchive.com/sites/default/files/Ferg023_2.jpg LHL Archive " The onset shall be given, unless the heavens Fall solid on us ! " answered Ger and Gel. " The onset shall be given ! " replied they all Then Lomna, — laying his brooch upon the heap, — " Who first returns — but I shall not return — To take his stone again, take also this ; And, for the rest of what my sword has gained, Share it among you. I forgive you all, And bid you all farewell ; for nothing now Remains for me but death : " and with the word He struck his dagger in his heart, and fell. " Kings, lords, and men of war," said Ferragon, " Comrades till now, the man whose body lies Before us, though we used to call him fool Because his heart was softer and his speech More delicate than ours, I now esteem Both wise and brave, and noble in his death He spoke me truly, for he knew my heart Unspoken, when he said 'twas not through fear Of death I spoke dissuading ; but through fear Of conscience : but your hearts I better knew Leaving unspoken what was in my own ; For well indeed I knew how vain it were To talk of pity, love, or tenderness To bloody-minded and to desperate men. Therefore I told you, and I told you true What loss to reckon of your wretched lives. Entering this dragons' den ; but did not tell The horror and the anguish sharp as death In my own bosom entering as I knew The pictured presence of each faithful friend, And of that sire revered, ye now consign To massacre and bloody butchery. And that 'twas love that swayed me, and not fear. Take this for proof : " and drew and slew himself. Text