Where Shall We Bury Our Shame?

by Thomas Moore

Where shall we bury our shame?
Where, in what desolate place,
Hide the last wreck of a name,
Broken and stain'd by disgrace?
Death may dissever the chain,
Oppression will cease when we're gone;
But the dishonour, the stain,
Die as we may, will live on.

Was it for this we sent out
Liberty's cry from our shore?
Was it for this that her shout
Thrill'd to the world's very core?
Thus to live cowards and slaves,
Oh! ye free hearts that lie dead!
Do you not e'en in your graves
Shudder as o'er you we tread.