The Heroes Of Our Day
By Joseph Horatio Chant
Heroic deeds in every age
Command the world's esteem;
Each finds a place in history's page,
'Midst gloom a glory beam.
And we full oft revert to this,
To show man's true descent
From Him who is the source of bliss,
Tho' now by passions rent.
But we need not consult the past;
The present bears this fruit:
The hero race will ever last;
The tree is sound at root.
And never has the world excelled
The present in this line;
Our loving Lord has not withheld
From us this trait divine.
And we should not from them withhold
The praise we feel is due
For deeds of love, and actions bold,
For spirit kind and true.
Their worth we now should recognize,
Not chant it o'er their graves;
The hero of the past we prize,
No less the man who braves
The dangers of the present hour,
The sneers which now are rife,
Not for the sake of earthly power,
Nor yet to save his life.
But for the good of fellow man,
And for his Master's sake,
He shuns no cross, and fears no ban;
'Tis these a hero make.