Proclaimed them masters of war’s bloody trade;
Less daring spirits from the mighty task
In terror would have shrunken: tender maid,
And daughter gently reared, for God to aid
Their feeble natures, breathed the words of prayer,
And in Heaven’s panoply their soul’s arrayed—
Speeding the good work on, though frail and fair,
When sterner manhood felt the faintness of despair.
Old Sparta in exulting tones may boast,
Of ancient matrons who could deck the bier