Lays of Ancient Rome - Thomas Babbington Macaulay

Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods..."

-"Horatius," stanza XXVII in Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas Babbington Macaulay