132 LIFE AND WORK OF DR. A. A. MURPHREE










 OPPORTUNITY

 This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:-
 There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
 And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
 A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
 Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
 Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
 A craven hung along the battle's edge,
 And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel-
 That blue blade that the king's son bears-but this
 Blunt thingl"--he napped and lung it from his hand,
 And lowering crept away and left the eld.
 Then came the king's on, wounded, sore beead,
 And weapolem, and msaw the broke sword,
 Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
 And ran and matched it, and with battle-shout
 Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down,
 And saved a great came that heroic day.
 -EDWARD R SILL