 | The Poetical Works of Robert Story |  |
Bring out the Old War-Flag.
1854.
Bring out the old War-flag! Long, now, it has lain,
Its folds—rich with glory—all piously furled;
And the hope of our heart was, that never again
Should we see it float forth in the wars of the world.
For still we remembered the blood, and the tears,
Both real—for sight, not imagined—for song,
That dimmed e'en its triumphs through many dark years,
When it waved in the battles of Right against Wrong!
Its folds—rich with glory—all piously furled;
And the hope of our heart was, that never again
Should we see it float forth in the wars of the world.
For still we remembered the blood, and the tears,
Both real—for sight, not imagined—for song,
That dimmed e'en its triumphs through many dark years,
When it waved in the battles of Right against Wrong!
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But down with regrets! or leave them to our foes,
Whose outrage forbids us at peace to remain—
And up with it now from its honoured repose,
'Mid the cheers of a people that cheer not in vain!
They cheer to behold it once more coming forth,
The weak to defend from the sword of the strong;
For—true to its fame—the first flag of the North
Will but wave in the battles of Right against Wrong!
Whose outrage forbids us at peace to remain—
And up with it now from its honoured repose,
'Mid the cheers of a people that cheer not in vain!
They cheer to behold it once more coming forth,
The weak to defend from the sword of the strong;
For—true to its fame—the first flag of the North
Will but wave in the battles of Right against Wrong!
Take, Warriors of Freedom, the flag we bestow,
To be shortly unfurled at the trumpet's wild breath!
We give it you stainless; and Britons, we know,
Will bring it back stainless, or clasp it in death!
But why talk of death, save of death to our foes,
When ye meet them in conflict—too fierce to be long?
O! safe is the War-flag, confided to those
Who fight in the battles of Right against Wrong!
To be shortly unfurled at the trumpet's wild breath!
We give it you stainless; and Britons, we know,
Will bring it back stainless, or clasp it in death!
But why talk of death, save of death to our foes,
When ye meet them in conflict—too fierce to be long?
O! safe is the War-flag, confided to those
Who fight in the battles of Right against Wrong!
| The Poetical Works of Robert Story | |