If they tell you that we hold
    Right and wrong are much the same:
    That with equal share of blame
The defender of the fold
    And the ravening wolf we name
                  Don’t believe it!

If they tell you that we think,
    When the robber comes by night
    And we see n’neath murderous Might
Innocence unfriended sink,
    We should be “too proud to fight”—
                  Don’t believe it!

If—O gallant souls and true!—
    If they tell you we judge well
    Ways of Heaven and ways of Hell:
That the honor dear to you
    Also in our souls doth dwell—
                  Oh, believe it!

If they tell you our heart’s cry:
    That, whate’er the danger near,
    One, one only loss we fear;
And are ready too, to—die
    For the things that you hold dear—
                  Oh, believe it!