No Enemies

 Posted by on 17 July 2009 at 1:01 pm  Ethics, Poetry
Jul 172009
 

The fabulous Rory Hodgson (aka @Tenure) recently sent me the following poem by the Scottish poet Charles Mackay (1814 – 1889). It suits me well.

“No Enemies” – Charles Mackay

You have no enemies, you say?
Alas, my friend, the boast is poor;
He who has mingled in the fray
Of duty, that the brave endure,
Must have made foes! If you have none,
Small is the work that you have done.
You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,
You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,
You’ve never turned the wrong to right,
You’ve been a coward in the fight.

   
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