Still Fighting

A night and a day on the battlefield hot
Two young men-at-arms had valiantly fought.
Side by side their swords clashed
Against a foe not undone
Countless times they had dashed –
Yet still had not won.

Said one to the other, “I fear we are lost!

For to win such a battle is too great a cost.
We’ve fought far and wide,
And to what end, pray tell?
If we never had tried
We’d have done just as well.”

To conquer this foe looked hopeless to him,

But for his companion things seemed not so grim.
“Say not so, my dear friend!"

He said with a cry.

“If we stand ‘til the end

We shall win by and by.

“For what is a warrior without a true fight?
And what good is living, if not for the right?
Though all now seems dark
And the battle is long,
Our swords oft reach their mark
And we’re still going strong.

“Your battle shall end the moment you quit

If for such a fight you deem you’re unfit.
So come now, my friend,
And give it your best!
The right first defend,
And then we may rest.”

So he drew his companion back into the fray,

And as he foretold, they conquered that day.
Said the first, “Now I see
That in this you were right.
Though a battle there be,
Thank God I still fight!”