Essays, First Series
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Heroism

“Paradise is under the shadow of swords."
                              Mahomet.

RUBY wine is drunk by knaves,
Sugar spends to fatten slaves,
Rose and vine-leaf deck buffoons;
Thunderclouds 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.

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This complete text of Essays, First Series by Ralph Waldo Emerson is in the public domain.
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Page last updated on April 2003. Complete book.
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