Skip to content
Linespedia

Epitaph On An Army Of Mercenaries

Topics: classic

These, in the day when heaven was falling,     The hour when earths foundations fled,     Followed their mercenary calling     And took their wages and are dead.     Their shoulders held the sky suspended;     They stood, and earths foundations stay;     What God abandoned, these defended,     And saved the sum of things for pay.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"These, in the day when heaven was falling,..."

This evocative piece by Alfred Edward Housman, titled "Epitaph On An Army Of Mercenaries", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Classified Tags

Related lines

"On moonlit heath and lonesome bank     The sheep beside me graze;     And yon the gallows used to clank     Fast by the four cross ways."

"From Clee to heaven the beacon burns,     The shires have seen it plain,     From north and south the sign returns     And beacons burn again."

"Along the fields as we came by     A year ago, my love and I,     The aspen over stile and stone     Was talking to itself alone.     "Oh who"

"The sigh that heaves the grasses     Whence thou wilt never rise     Is of the air that passes     And knows not if it sighs.     The diamond"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Continue Reading

"On moonlit heath and lonesome bank     The sheep b..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.