Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“But he is truly brave who faces death Within his chamber, at a sudden call, At night, when no man sees.”
- Source
- Admetus
- Date
- 1871
- Local voice
- Fictional character · Alcestis
Meaning of “But he is truly brave who faces death…”
Alcestis contrasts visible battlefield heroism with private courage that receives no audience or public praise.
Where does it come from?
Admetus, published in Admetus and Other Poems (1871) and represented by Project Gutenberg #3295. Alcestis speaks while challenging those unwilling to sacrifice themselves for Admetus. The excerpt stops before the poem’s explicit self-sacrificial conclusion and is preserved as classical-myth character speech, not an endorsement of self-harm or Lazarus autobiography.
Why the local voice matters
Admetus. Alcestis speaks within Lazarus’s classical-myth narrative while arguing about private courage and sacrificial duty; this is mythic character speech, not Lazarus autobiography.