Epitaph On An Army Of Mercenaries
by Alfred Edward Housman — a poem card from Justes Mots
Housman's famous tribute to mercenary soldiers who died defending civilization, paradoxically elevating paid fighters as noble defenders of the world. The poem presents their sacrifice as redemptive despite their mercenary motive. Ideal for military memorials and reflections on duty and honor.
These, in the day when heaven was falling,
The hour when earth's foundations fled,
Followed their mercenary calling
And took their wages and are dead.
Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth's foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended,…