Girt with the brand none else may wield,
Tolumnius with the belt of gold,

And dark Verbenna from the hold
By reedy Thrasymene.

Fast by the royal standard
O'erlooking all the war,

Lars Porsena of Clusium
Sate in his ivory car.

By the right wheel rode Mamilius,
Prince of the Latian name;

And by the left false Sextus,

That wrought the deed of shame.

But when the face of Sextus
Was seen among the foes,
A yell that rent the firmament
From all the town arose.

On the house-tops was no woman

But spat towards him, and hissed; No child but screamed out curses,

And shook its little fist.

But the Consul's brow was sad,

And the Consul's speech was low, And darkly looked he at the wall, And darkly at the foe.

"Their van will be upon us

Before the bridge goes down;

And if they once may win the bridge, What hope to save the town?"

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late;

And how can man die better
Then facing fearful odds

For the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his Gods,

And for the tender mother

Who dandled him to rest,

And for the wife who nurses
His baby at her breast,

And for the holy maidens

Who feed the eternal flame, To save them from false Sextus That wrought the deed of shame?

Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,
With all the speed ye may;
I, with two more to help me,
Will hold the foe in play.
In yon strait path a thousand

May well be stopped by three: Now who will stand on either hand, And keep the bridge with me?"

Then out spake Spurius Lartius,
A Ramnian proud was he:
"Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,
And keep the bridge with thee."
And out spake strong Herminius,
Of Titian blood was he:

"I will abide on thy left side,

And keep the bridge with thee."

"Horatius," quoth the Consul,

"As thou sayest, so let it be." And straight against that great array Forth went the dauntless Three. For Romans in Rome's quarrel

Spared neither land nor gold, Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life In the brave days of old.

Then none was for a party;

Then all were for the State;

Then the great man helped the poor,
And the poor man loved the great;
Then lands were fairly portioned;
Then spoils were fairly sold;
The Romans were like brothers
In the brave days of old.

Now Roman is to Roman
More hateful than a foe,

And the Tribunes beard the high,
And the Fathers grind the low.

As we wax hot in faction,

In battle we wax cold:

Wherefore men fight not as they fought
In the brave days of old.

Now while the Three were tightening
Their harness on their backs,
The Consul was the foremost man
To take in hand an axe:

And Fathers mixed with Commons
Seized hatchet, bar, and crow,
And smote upon the planks above,
And loosed the props below.

Meanwhile the Tuscan army,
Right glorious to behold,

Came flashing back the noonday light,
Rank behind rank, like surges bright
Of a broad sea of gold.
Four hundred trumpets sounded

A peal of warlike glee,

As that great host, with measured tread, And spears advanced, and ensigns spread, Rolled slowly towards the bridge's head, Where stood the dauntless Three.