 | Old Year Leaves |  |
131
AT SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE.
Feb. 19, 1880.
'Tis fashionable now to say
That skill displayed in war is wrong,
That they who formed our England's sway,
And made her empire firm and strong,
That skill displayed in war is wrong,
That they who formed our England's sway,
And made her empire firm and strong,
Were callous cut-throats nothing less,—
Who joyed in war for its own sake,—
Who yearned to banish happiness,
Who loved with blood their thirst to slake.
Who joyed in war for its own sake,—
Who yearned to banish happiness,
Who loved with blood their thirst to slake.
And yet while landing here to-day,
On the same shore which years ago
Saw from its crag-encircled bay
Our Nelson's only overthrow,
On the same shore which years ago
Saw from its crag-encircled bay
Our Nelson's only overthrow,
132
I thought, Do those who grub and prose,
And by their lights their betters try,
Perform their life-tasks more than those
Whose task is but ‘to do or die’?
And by their lights their betters try,
Perform their life-tasks more than those
Whose task is but ‘to do or die’?
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