 | The Complete poetical works of Joaquin Miller . |  |
ENGLAND'S LION.
And England's lion is shorn and shamed?
And England's valor is dead to-day?
And England's daring is dulled and tamed?
And England's heart is unmanned, men say?
No, never a whit; give England's men
A cause, fit cause, and behold them then!
And England's valor is dead to-day?
And England's daring is dulled and tamed?
And England's heart is unmanned, men say?
No, never a whit; give England's men
A cause, fit cause, and behold them then!
But send them forth to loot and to burn,
Turn babes and women and bent old men
Unhoused to the rain, to ruthless turn
The plowshare back to the sword, and then
Ask them to believe that this blood-soaked sod
Is won from women in the name of God.
Turn babes and women and bent old men
Unhoused to the rain, to ruthless turn
The plowshare back to the sword, and then
Ask them to believe that this blood-soaked sod
Is won from women in the name of God.
Your soldier is scarce the “machine” to-day
You mowed with at Lexington, Waterloo.
He is learning to read, to think, and to say,
To see and to feel, as well as to do.
And he feels how braver to build a town
Or a home for babes than to burn one down.
You mowed with at Lexington, Waterloo.
He is learning to read, to think, and to say,
To see and to feel, as well as to do.
And he feels how braver to build a town
Or a home for babes than to burn one down.
He remembers a pale Boer lad who bled—
Bled praying and fighting, and fighting alone—
Fighting and dying 'mid a ring of dead
Gathered about in a gory zone.
And he almost envies that dead boy there
In battle harness, with his yellow hair.
Bled praying and fighting, and fighting alone—
Fighting and dying 'mid a ring of dead
Gathered about in a gory zone.
And he almost envies that dead boy there
In battle harness, with his yellow hair.
Listen to this! A battle was on;
The usual battle of twenty to one ...
The battle was over, the British were gone;
Their officer dead; one empty gun ...
Yes, your “machine,” in the heat of the fray,
Had dared to think and to do, that day.
The usual battle of twenty to one ...
The battle was over, the British were gone;
Their officer dead; one empty gun ...
Yes, your “machine,” in the heat of the fray,
Had dared to think and to do, that day.
| The Complete poetical works of Joaquin Miller . | |