41. Opposed to these, a hovering band Contended for their native land; Peasants, whose new-found strength had broke From manly necks the ignoble yoke, And forged their fetters into swords, On equal terms to fight their lords And what insurgent rage had gained, In many a mortal fray maintained! Marshaled at morn at Freedom's call, They come to conquer or to fall, Where he who conquered, he who fell, Was deemed a dead, or living Tell! Such virtue had that patriot breathed, So to the soil his soul bequeathed, That wheresoe'er his arrows flew, Heroes in his own likeness grew, And warriors sprang from every sod Which his awakening footstep trod.
42. And now the work of life and death Hung on the passing of a breath; The fire of conflict burnt within, The battle trembled to begin; Yet, while the Austrians held their ground, Point for attack was nowhere found. Where'er the impatient Switzers gazed, The unbroken line of lances blazed; That line 'twere suicide to meet, And perish at their tyrant's feet How could they rest within their graves, And leave their homes the homes of slaves? Would they not feel their children tread With clanging chains above their head?
43. It must not! This day, this hour, Annihilates the oppressor's power; All Switzerland is in the field, She will not fly, she can not yield-- She must not fall; her better fate Here gives her an immortal date. Few were the numbers she could boast; But every freeman was a host, And felt as though himself were he On whose sole arm hung victory!
44. It did depend on one, indeed, Behold him--Arnold Winkelried There sounds not to the tramp of fame The echo of a nobler name. Unmarked he stood amid the throng, In rumination deep and long, Till you might see, with sudden grace, The very thought come o'er his face, And by the motion of his form Anticipate the coming storm; And by the uplifting of his brow Tell where the bolt would strike, and how.
45. But 'twas no sooner thought and done, The field was in a moment won.
46. "Make way for Liberty!" he cried; Then ran with arms extended wide As if his dearest friend to clasp; Ten spears he swept within his grasp. "Make way for Liberty!" he cried: Their keen points met from side to side; He bowed among them like a tree, And thus made way for Liberty!