From the New York Tribune, May 10, 1913.
By Joaquin Miller.
The bravest battle that ever was fought
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not;
It was fought by the mothers of men.
Nay, not with cannon or battle shot
With sword or nobler pen
Nay, not with eloquent word or thought
From mouths of wonderful men.
But deep in a walled-up woman’s heart—
Of woman that would not yield
But patiently, silently bore her part—
Lo! there in that battlefield
No marshaling troop, no bivouac song
No banner to gleam and wave;
And oh these battles they last so long—
From babyhood to the grave!
Yet, faithful still as a bridge of stars
She fights in her walled-up town—
Fights on and on in the endless wars
Then silent, unseen—goes down.