 | The Poetical Works of George Barlow
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SONNET XVIII
FOR CORONATION DAY, THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1911.
I
At this stern moment when black treason prowls
From land to land, and base sedition plots,
While patriotism shrinks, and manhood rots,
And womanhood, degraded, shrieks and howls,
And decadent girls, half-dressed and eyed like ghouls,
Crowd mocking streets: while Irish, Welsh and Scots,
Would have the kingdom parcelled into lots:
While Little England snarls and spits and scowls:
At such an hour, when traitorous tongues go free
And every loyal heart commits a crime,
A keener sword is needed than of rhyme
That, Royal at home, Imperial o'er the sea,
Our English Monarch's opening reign may be
The turning-point of history and of time.
| The Poetical Works of George Barlow
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