The wonderful age of the world I sing –The age of battery, coil and spring,Of steam, and storage, and motored thing. Though faith may slumber and art seem dead,And all that is spoken has once been said,And all that is written were best unread; Though hearts are iron and thoughts are steel,And all that has […]

VIRTUE O wanton one, O wicked one, how was it that you came,Down from the paths of purity, to walk the streets of shame?And wherefore was that precious wealth, God gave to you in trust,Flung broadcast for the feet of men to trample in the dust? VICE O prudent one, O spotless one, now listen […]

They walked the valley of the dead;Lit by a weird half light;No sound they made, no word they said;And they were pale with fright.Then suddenly from unseen places cameLoud laughter, that was like a whip of flame. They looked, and saw, beyond, above,A land where wronged souls wait;(Those spirits called to earth by love,And driven […]

The world has crowned a thousand kings:But destiny has keptHer weightiest hour of kingly powerTo offer England’s son.The rising bell of Progress rings;And Truths which long have slept,Like prophets strange, predicting change,Before Time’s chariot run. The greatest Empire of the Earth.Old England proudly stands.Like arteries her ColoniesReach out from sea to sea.She clasps all races […]

England, father and mother in one,Look on your stalwart son.Sturdy and strong, with the valour of youth,Where is another so lusty?Coated and mailed, with the armour of truth,Where is another so trusty?Flesh of your flesh, and bone of your bone,He is yours alone. England, father and mother in one,See the wealth of your son.Forests primeval, […]

In the banquet hall of ProgressGod has bidden to a feastAll the women in the East. Some have said ‘We are not ready, –We must wait another day.’Some, with voices clear and steady,‘Lord, we hear, and we obey.’ Others, timid and uncertain,Step forth trembling in the light,Many hide behind the curtainWith their faces hid from […]

Born in the flesh, and bred in the bone,Some of us harbour stillA New World pride: and we flaunt or hideThe Spirit of Bunker Hill.We claim our place, as a separate race,Or a self-created clan;Till there comes a day when we like to say,‘We are kin of the Englishman.’ For under the front that seems […]

All the selfish joys of earth,I am getting through.That which used to lure and leadNow I pass and give no heed;Only one thing seems of worth –Just you. Not for me the lonely height,And the larger view;Lowlier ways seem fair and wide,While we wander side by side.One thing makes the whole world bright –Just you. […]

Twice have I seen God’s full reflected grace.Once when the wailing of a child at birthProclaimed another soul had come to earth,That look shone on, and through the mother’s face. And once when silence, absolute and vast,Followed the final indrawn mortal breath,Sudden upon the countenance of deathThat supreme glory of God’s grace was cast.

The Truth Teller lifts the curtain,And shows us the people’s plight;And everything seems uncertain,And nothing at all looks right.Yet out of the blackness groping,My heart finds a world in bloom;For it somehow is fashioned for hoping,And it cannot live in the gloom. He tells us from border to border,That race is warring with race;With riot […]

In India’s land one listens aghastTo the people who scream and bawl;For each caste yells at a lower caste,And the Britisher yells at them all.

I When first we met (the Sea and I),Like one before a King,I stood in awe; nor felt nor sawThe sun, the winds, the earth, the skyOr any other thing.God’s Universe, to me,Was just the Sea. When next we met, the lordly MainPlayed but a courtier’s part;Crowned Queen was I; and earth and sky,And sun […]

Just a changing sea of colourSurging up and flowing down;And pagodas shining golden, night and noon;And a sun-burst-tinted throngOf young priests that move alongUnder sun-burst-hued umbrellas through the town.That’s Rangoon.

Now is the time when India is gayWith wedding parties; and the radiant throngsSeem like a scattered rainbow taking partIn human pleasures. Dressed in bright array,They fling upon the bride their wreaths of songs –The Little Lady of the Bullock Cart. Here is the temple ready for the rite:The large-eyed bullocks halt; and waiting armsLift […]

The Day has never understood the Gloaming or the Night;Though sired by one Creative Power, and nursed at Nature’s breast;The White Man ever fails to read the Dark Man’s heart aright;Though from the self-same Source they came, upon the self-same quest;So deep and wide, the Great Divide,Between the East and West. But like a shadow […]

Long have I searched, cathedral shrine, and hall,To find a symbol, from the hand of art,That gave the full expression (not a part)Of that ecstatic peace which follows allLife’s pain and passion. Strange it should befallThis outer emblem of the inner heartWas waiting far beyond the great world’s mart –Immortal answer, to the mortal call. […]

A changing medley of insistent sounds,Like broken airs, played on a Samisen,Pursues me, as the waves blot out the shore.The trot of wooden heels; the warning cryOf patient runners; laughter and strange wordsOf children, children, children everywhere:The clap of reverent hands, before some shrine;And over all the haunting temple bells,Waking, in silent chambers of the […]

God gave him passions, splendid as the sun,Meant for the lordliest purposes; a partOf nature’s full and fertile mother heart,From which new systems and new stars are spun.And now, behold, behold, what he has done!In Folly’s court and carnal Pleasures’ martHe flung the wealth life gave him at the start.(This, of all mortal sins, the […]

Oh, an ugly thing is an iron rail,Black, with its face to the dust.But it carries a message where winged things fail;It crosses the mountains, and catches the trail,While the winds and the sea make sport of a sail;Oh, a rail is a friend to trust. The iron rail, with its face to the sod,Is […]

‘Oh life is wonderful,’ she said,‘And all my world is bright;Can Paradise show fairer skies,Or more effulgent light?’(Speak lower, lower, mortal heart,The jealous gods may hear.) She turned for answer; but his gazeCut past her like a lance,And shone like flame on one who cameWith radiant glance for glance.(You spoke too loud, O mortal heart,The […]