They Could Have Lived On Poem by Francis Duggan

They could have lived on for to die old and gray
The martyrs for Ireland remembered today
I was raised on stories of nineteen sixteen
Of the men who gave their lives for the gold, white and green
So many stories have been written and songs have been sung
Of the men without fear who died brave and young
The ultimate sacrifice for their country they made
And memories of them from history may well never fade
Since we all look at life in a different way
Is any Country worth dying for is not for me to say
And though honor is great one must say nonetheless
That life is the greatest gift that one does possess
Only the sound of the bugle when the last post is played
It is out of martyrs war heroes are made.