Of all sensations pity brings

Of all sensations pity brings,
To proudly swell the ample heart,
From which the willing sorrow springs,
In others grief that bears a part.
Of all sad sympathy's delights,
The manly dignity of grief,
A joy in mourning that excites,
And gives the anxious mind relief:
Of these would you the feeling know,
Most gen'rous, noble, greatly brave,
That ever taught a heart to glow,
'Tis the tear that bedews a soldier's grave.

For hard and painful is his lot,
Let dangers come he braves them all;
Valiant perhaps to be forgot,
Or undistinguish'd doom'd to fall:
Yet wrapt in conscious worth secure,
The world, that now forgets his toils,
He views from a retreat obscure,
And quits it with a willing smile.
Then trav'ler one kind drop bestow,
'Twere graceful pity, nobly brave;
Nought ever taught the heart to glow
Like the tear that bedews a soldier's grave.