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A Sonnet Chronicle

1900-1906: By H. D. Rawnsley

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In Trafalgar Square
 
 
 


81

In Trafalgar Square

October 21, 1905.
Come from thy mighty column's wreathèd crest!
Thy one-time foes to-day with us combine
To weave a chaplet for those brows of thine;
Thou, whose brave heart the world's heart hath possessed,
Great battle-hammer of the East and West,
Keen hunter of the barren leagues of brine,
Resistless breaker of the battle-line,
Come down to-day to be the nation's guest!
Frail wert thou, being so human, but in war
Or peace one vision flames before thine eyes—
The vision of thy land at rest and free.
God walked the waters not disowning thee,
For on thy path burned Duty, like a star,
Thy soul was fired with full self-sacrifice.