EPITAPH ON AN ARMY OF MERCENARIES

by: A.E. Housman (1860-1936)

HESE, in the day when heaven was falling,

The hour when earth's foundations fled,

Follow'd 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 abandon'd, these defended,

And saved the sum of things for pay.

• A.E. Housman: Bibliography - A bibliography of the works of Alfred Edward Housman; includes a list of critical and biographical resources.
• Purchase books by A.E. Housman