Sonnets on the War By Alexander Smith and By the Author of "Balder" and "The Roman" [S. T. Dobell] |
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VOLUNTEERS. |
 | Sonnets on the War |  |
40
VOLUNTEERS.
Take us, O England! in thine hour of need.We hold our lives out in our eager hands!
Take us, O England! gather us in bands!
We come to rot in winds or wildly bleed,
We come in crowds from glen and milky mead,
From Homes, fir-saddened on the sunset wold,
From Fortune's pathways, littered thick with gold.
From tarry towns that on the ocean feed,
From lowing fields, from blythe cock-crowing farms.
From proud brides nestling in our happy arms,
At thy command we dare the chilly grave,
And dying, we have one wild thought above
The pang. This guerdon, England, we would crave—
Take us into the heaven of thy love.
| Sonnets on the War | |