The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men.

The couplet asserts that physical death does not erase moral influence. “Sleep in dust” frames death as temporary rest, while “die never” shifts the measure of life from biology to legacy. Savage’s emphasis is civic and ethical: bravery becomes a transmissible force that “nerves” (strengthens) others, suggesting that exemplary courage functions like a public inheritance. The line also works as consolation and exhortation—comforting mourners by claiming the brave endure in memory, and urging the living to act bravely because their actions can outlast them through imitation and inspiration.