THE OLD GUARD

Knew you the men of the Old Guard? Men of the camp and trail;

Guard of the van when Time began in the land of grass and gale,

Of a sky-wide land they seized command where the mightiest prevail.

Who were the men of the Old Guard? Giants of strength and will,

Trained in the school of hard-luck rule and daring to die or kill;

Staking their lives, and their young, and wives, on the road up

Fortune's hill.