In Cornwall and Across the Sea With Poems Written in Devonshire. By Douglas B. W. Sladen |
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TO OUR CHILDREN. |
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 | In Cornwall and Across the Sea |  |
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TO OUR CHILDREN.
“Advance Australia!” Canada advanceTo stand beside you mother 'mid the roar
Of battle in the desert. Only war
Can forge a nation: Germany and France
Had to engage with all their puissance
Ere Germany was unified once more;
The conquest of Granada came before
Spain's splendour: but for Salamis perchance
Athens had borne no story and no song:
Great singers of great actions are the fruit,
As witness Chaucer after Poictiers,
And Shakspere the Armada: now, ere long,
A nation in Australia shall root,
An Austral Æschylus attune his lay.
| In Cornwall and Across the Sea | |