 | War poems with some others |  |
6
DEDICATION To Britain
Dear isle, in whose high service it was by fate decreedThat I should work in other lands with men of alien breed,
With those who little knew thee or knew but to resent
The girdling sea should hold at bay their envious ill-content,
Dear isle, whose summer magic now challenged to grim strife
Has never seemed more lovely in all my years of life,
Words fail to match the patriot pride that makes my soul elate
To feel thy sons so one at heart in this dark hour of fate,
At home and round the seven seas where Britain's flag is flown,
Who have ventured all in freedom's cause and bear the brunt alone.
And though the sky be overcast in which my setting sun
May sink beyond red battlefields still waiting to be won,
I know my people's sword and shield will ransom the oppressed
And I can pass with unbowed head serenely to my rest.
| War poems with some others | |