 | Songs of England by Alfred Austin |  |
68
A VOICE FROM THE WEST
I
What is the voice I hearOn the wind of the Western Sea?
Sentinel, listen from out Cape Clear
And say what the voice may be.
“'Tis a proud, free people calling loud to a people proud and free.
II
“And it says to them, ‘Kinsmen, hail!We severed have been too long.
Now let us have done with a worn-out tale—
The tale of an ancient Wrong;
And our friendship last long as Love doth last,
and be stronger than Death is strong!’”
69
III
Answer them, “Sons of the self-same race,And blood of the self-same clan,
Let us speak with each other face to face,
And answer man to man;
And loyally love and trust each other as none but free men can.
IV
“So fling them out to the breeze,Shamrock, Thistle, and Rose!
And the Star-Spangled Banner unfurl with these,
A message to friends and foes,
Wherever the sails of peace are seen and wherever the war-wind blows.
V
“A message to bond and thrall to wake:For wherever we come, we twain,
The throne of the tyrant shall rock and quake,
And his menace be void and vain;
For you are lords of a strong, young land, and we are lords of the main.”
70
VI
Yes, this is the voice on the bluff March gale:“We severed have been too long.
But now we have done with a worn-out tale,
The tale of an ancient Wrong;
And our friendship shall last long as Love doth last, and be stronger than Death is strong!”
March 1898.
| Songs of England by Alfred Austin | |