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Flower o' the thorn

A book of wayside verse: By John Payne

Payne, John (1842-1916)

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[Flower o' the thorn]

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ARCADIA IN URBE.

THE LAND OF THE MORNING-CALM.

A FRIEND FROM OVERSEA.

THE STREETS IN FLOWER.

LIGHTED WINDOWS.

THE GODS IN VICTORIA PARK.

ON THE RAILWAY BRIDGE.

WIND, RAIN, SUN.

THE HUSH OF DUSK.

BIRDS IN SNOWTIME.

THE SPIRIT-HOUR.

A PAUSE OF PEACE.

CHRYSANTHEMUMS.

LONDON LIGHTNING.

THE CUCKOO'S CALL.

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SUN AND SHADOW.

[Out of the shadow into the sun]

THE OLD AND THE NEW.

THE SEVEN SPELLS.

THE AIM OF LIFE.

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BRITANNIA CORAM BARBARIS.

I.

II.

THE LEAVES' LESSON.

TIME AND HIS TENDERLINGS.

THE COMMON HOPE.

UNSEASONABLE SUMMER.

A VOICE FROM DREAMLAND.

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VARIATIONS ON AN ALPINE THEME.

I.

I. THE HOPE OF THE HILLS.

II.

II. THE HUSH OF THE HILLS.

III.

III. THE HALLUCINATION OF THE HILLS.

IV.

IV. THE HONOUR OF THE HILLS.

V.

V. THE HUNGER OF THE HILLS.

VI.

VI. THE HORROR OF THE HILLS.

VII.

VII. THE HALLOWING OF THE HILLS.

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MARTYRS OF HISTORY.

XI. JESUS OF NAZARETH.

XVIII. VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA.

XIX. DON QUIXOTE.

XXI. A NAMELESS HERO.

FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE.

THE HONEYSUCKLE.

THE SANCTUARY LAMPS.

QUEM DEUS VULT PERDERE.

DUO IN DESERTIS.

THE SOUL'S COLOUR.

OLD CYNICS AND NEW.

ANNUS VOLUBILIS.

THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES.

FREDERICK BURNABY.

FELIX, INFELIX.

NESSUN MAGGIOR DOLORE.

WALLS OF SEVERANCE.

DATUR HORA QUIETI.

RESURGENT SORROW.

LIFE TRIUMPHANT.

DIMENSIO QUARTA.

RONSARD TO HIS MISTRESS.

ÆTAS PERVERSA.

“NACH RAUM!”

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XXI. A NAMELESS HERO.

SINCE Saul on Gilboa laid him down to die,
Since at Thermopylae, in battle set,
Leonidas the Persian onslaught met
With death-devoted breast, in days gone by,
So, in our own, unasking how or why,
Unnumbered heroes, dying, Life's last debt
Have paid to mother-country. Dulce et
Decorum est pro patriâ mori.
—Yet, most of all who for their native land
Life's service with Death's seal have certified,
The speech of that rude soldier stirs my mood,
Who, gasping out upon the Afric sand
His soul, with choked lungs muttered, “England's good
Enough to die for, isn't she?” And died.

A fact, related of one of the Devon men killed in the Boer War. The only alteration which has been made in his dying speech is the omission of the customary trivial epithet, “Wherewith, in these our days, the common folk Their talk do commonly encarnadine.”