Contents -Volume INDEX -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

The Challenge

By Fitz-James O’Brien (1828–1862)

A WARRIOR hung his plumèd helm

On the rugged trunk of an aged elm;

“Where is the knight so bold,” he cried,

“That dares my haughty crest deride?”

The wind came by with a sullen howl,

And dashed the helm on the pathway foul,

And shook in scorn each sturdy limb,—

For where was the knight that could fight with him?