 | War poems with some others |  |
17
Finland Hail!
Hail, ancient people of the northern sea,
In number small, but great in heart and mind,
Not envying others, save that they were free,
Maintaining long tradition, unresigned
To alien rule, impatient for release
To live self-centred your own lives in peace!
In number small, but great in heart and mind,
Not envying others, save that they were free,
Maintaining long tradition, unresigned
To alien rule, impatient for release
To live self-centred your own lives in peace!
A little nation, shadowed by the strength
Of circling millions, they kept sharp their swords,
Enduring, not submissive. Then at length
The great day dawned, when they defied the hordes
Of a vast empire, and alone assailed
The old oppression and alone prevailed.
Of circling millions, they kept sharp their swords,
Enduring, not submissive. Then at length
The great day dawned, when they defied the hordes
Of a vast empire, and alone assailed
The old oppression and alone prevailed.
But brief was Finland's happy spell, once more
That old oppressor in a new disguise,
Claimed overlordship of their Baltic shore,
Masked in discreet benevolence of lies.
Yet those few years had steeled a patriot will
And hard-won freedom seemed but dearer still.
That old oppressor in a new disguise,
Claimed overlordship of their Baltic shore,
Masked in discreet benevolence of lies.
Yet those few years had steeled a patriot will
And hard-won freedom seemed but dearer still.
18
What though outnumbered more than fifty-fold
They faced like men who trusted in their star,
Great armies panoplied with stolen gold
And murderous engines of unequal war.
They, without allies but their ice and snow,
Flung back the challenge with a splendid ‘No!’
They faced like men who trusted in their star,
Great armies panoplied with stolen gold
And murderous engines of unequal war.
They, without allies but their ice and snow,
Flung back the challenge with a splendid ‘No!’
Hardly, I think, since round Leonidas,
Between the flanks of Oeta and the sea,
Three hundred Spartans in the narrow pass
Dying, immortalised Thermopylae,
Have patriot warriors earned so just a claim
To share their record on the roll of fame.
Between the flanks of Oeta and the sea,
Three hundred Spartans in the narrow pass
Dying, immortalised Thermopylae,
Have patriot warriors earned so just a claim
To share their record on the roll of fame.
Free nations of the world, will you endure
This people's re-enslavement, or that he,
The bandit neighbour, crazy with the lure
Of world dominion, should aspire to be
Your arbiter, predestined to replace
Your code of morals with his claims of race?
This people's re-enslavement, or that he,
The bandit neighbour, crazy with the lure
Of world dominion, should aspire to be
Your arbiter, predestined to replace
Your code of morals with his claims of race?
Will you permit earth-hunger and the lust
For mastery to revive the brute in man,
And suffer all the wise, the brave, the just
Have 'stablished since his upward trend began
To count as naught? You that are sane and free
Unite, proclaim ‘We will not have this be.’
For mastery to revive the brute in man,
And suffer all the wise, the brave, the just
Have 'stablished since his upward trend began
To count as naught? You that are sane and free
Unite, proclaim ‘We will not have this be.’
| War poems with some others | |