Americans like to think of themselves as winners, the ones who shape the world's history, beat back our foes, spread our culture across the globe, and come home with the gold medals. But it turns ...

Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me; Dark despair around benights me. I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy, Naething could resist my Nancy: But to see her was to love her; Love but her, and love for ever.