The Poetical Works of George Barlow In Ten [Eleven] Volumes |
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 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow |  |
318
SONNET II
A PRAYER
That these may pass from power, and men may rise
Born of the moment, equal to the time,
Keen-eyed to probe the black depths of a crime,
Most proudly fearless, mercilessly wise!
Armoured to win the incalculable prize
A nobler England flashes forth, sublime,
Whose fleets shall carry peace from clime to clime,
Or thunder war, till the last despot dies.
One moment of sharp struggle grim and grave,
Then with her heel upon the Arch-Serpent's head
May England stand, she who just now was dead
And no man deemed that God or man could save!
But now her feet are swift upon the wave
And golden morning lightens round her tread
December 21, 1909.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow | |