 | The Emperor's Vigil, and The Waves And The War |  |
57
I. Signs of Glory.
What talk ye to Britons of star and cross,
And medals and badges bright?
An Englishman fights not for idle dross,
But for honour, and glory, and right.
And medals and badges bright?
An Englishman fights not for idle dross,
But for honour, and glory, and right.
Let milliner-soldiers their ribands boast,
And struggle their clasps to win:
An Englishman's breast is plain and bare,
But the heart of a hero's within.
And struggle their clasps to win:
An Englishman's breast is plain and bare,
But the heart of a hero's within.
No need to write on it, “This man is brave”—
For where is a Briton is not?
Each one would have done the selfsame deed,
Had he stood on the selfsame spot.
For where is a Briton is not?
Each one would have done the selfsame deed,
Had he stood on the selfsame spot.
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He seeks no badge but the goodly sign
That glows where Honour lives:
The scar he gained in the battle's line
Is the star that Glory gives.
That glows where Honour lives:
The scar he gained in the battle's line
Is the star that Glory gives.
| The Emperor's Vigil, and The Waves And The War | |