A-7-Cornelius Hispanus Poem by Lynn W. Petty

Cornelius Hispanus'

We came for Sparta, let us stay for Greece.
Let us defeat our foe and win this war.
Just we three hundred stand-alone. Release
The fury and the rage of Spartan lore,
And let these arrogant barbarians
Discern that nothing is so difficult,
For Medes, Ionian Greeks or Persians,
Than trying to cut a Spartan down. Consult
The ancient records of our sire's deeds.
We are the flower of our heritage,
The consequence of our forefathers' seeds,
Who left King Darius steeped in carnage
Of his own defeat at Marathon. I
Am glad the rest have gone. They left to us
Thermopylae. Now, no one can deny,
Compare or mingle with our valor. Thus,
No Spartan will be hidden in the crowd.
Wherever Xerxes looks there will be we,
None other, just we Spartans, who have vowed
That we be true to our renown.