If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursèd lot.
If we must die, O let us nobly die,
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain; then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!
O kinsmen! we must meet the common foe!
Though far outnumbered let us show us brave,
And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
The speaker encourages his allies to fight back even though they have no chance of winning. 
 Reminiscent of the film 300, when the Spartan army chose to stand their ground despite them being overwhelmingly outnumbered. But this one line more than any other highlights the poem’s purpose of being a rally cry.
If We Must Die