Classic Poem

What constitutes a State?
Not high-raised battlement or laboured mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;
Nor cities fair, with spires and turrets crowned:
No! — Men, high-minded men,
With powers as far dull brutes endued,
In forest, brake, or den,
As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude —
Men who their duties know,
Know too their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain;
Prevent the long-aimed blow,
And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain.