 | The Poems of Sir William Watson |  |
FRANCE
Light-hearted heroine of tragic story!Nation whom storm on storm of ruining fate
Unruined leaves—nay, fairer, more elate,
Hungrier for action, more athirst for glory!
World-witching queen, from fiery floods and gory
Rising eternally regenerate,
Clothed with great deeds and crowned with dreams more great,
Spacious as Fancy's boundless territory!
Little thou lov'st our island, and perchance
Thou heed'st as little her reluctant praise;
Yet let her, in these dark and bodeful days,
Sinking old hatreds 'neath the sundering brine,
Immortal and indomitable France,
Marry her tears, her alien tears, to thine.
| The Poems of Sir William Watson | |