Pillars of Fire

I feel like taking a break from my paper, so I might as well make the most of this time and blog my first poem titled, as you might guess, pillars of fire. The works I'll post are not finished products, so a correction here or there is appreciated (I'm sure I can improve the meter and such; it's little things like that that made me avoid trying poetry until this summer). Anyway, here goes:

Pillars of fire, pillars of flame
Stand in their shadow
History judges the hero who's slain
Stand at attention

Heavy feet stamp as the armies trudge on
Marching for miles
Heavy arms straining to grip spears and shields
Arms of our fathers
Heavy hearts sink as the hearth's light grows dim
recedes behind us

Death before slavery and tyranny's gain
Greek blood buys freedom

Warriors camp at the pillars of fire
Forcing a last stand
Warriors united, once enemies, now
Shoulder to shoulder
Warrior's blood pumps, it knows it must flow
Water the soil

Many know home's warmth they won't feel again
At least it still stands

Glistening moonlight and stars cut the dark
Stillness now broken
Glistening spearpoints reflecting the light
Treason has sold them
Glistening eyes spy the Persians who march on
Down hidden mount's path

All but the Spartans must turn south again
Wait for Platea

Three hundred lambdas now stand in the narrows
Pillars of fire
Three hundred cold eyes stare into the night
See death approaching
Three hundred heads of hair blow in the breeze
Their crown is glory

Stranger, to Lacadaemon shall you tell
How here three hundred brave souls fought and fell