On the mountains, their young heirs to screen;
The old lions on the hot sand-prairie,—
If some peril track their cub,—unseen,
Stealthier than the Bedouin, glide between.
So the noblest of earth's creatures noble
Are cast forth to find their way alone,
So our manhood, in its day of trouble,
Is but crowded from the sheltering zone
And broad love-wings, to achieve its throne.
We are left to battle, not forsaken,