1914 We thought we ranked above the chance of ill. Others might fall, not we, for we were wise– Merchants in freedom. So, of our free-will We let our servants drug our strength with lies. The pleasure and the poison had its way On us as on the meanest, till we learned That he who […]

1913 Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul; Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil; Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man’s mind, First to follow Truth and last to leave old […]

1914. For all we have and are, For all our children’s fate, Stand up and take the war, The Hun is at the gate! Our world has passed away, In wantonness o’erthrown. There is nothing left to-day But steel and fire and stone! Though all we knew depart, The old Commandments stand:– ‘In courage keep […]

Be well assured that on our side The abiding oceans fight, Though headlong wind and heaping tide Make us their sport to-night. By force of weather not of war In jeopardy we steer, Then welcome Fate’s discourtesy Whereby it shall appear, How in all time of our distress, And our deliverance too, The game is […]

1914 Through learned and laborious years They set themselves to find Fresh terrors and undreamed-of fears To heap upon mankind. All that they drew from Heaven above Or digged from earth beneath, They laid into their treasure-trove And arsenals of death: While, for well-weighed advantage sake, Ruler and ruled alike Built up the faith they […]

The Doorkeepers of Zion, They do not always stand In helmet and whole armour, With halberds in their hand, But, being sure of Zion, And all her mysteries, They rest awhile in Zion, Sit down and smile in Zion; Ay, even jest in Zion; In Zion, at their ease. The Gatekeepers of Baal, They dare […]

1914 He passed in the very battle-smoke Of the war that he had descried. Three hundred mile of cannon spoke When the Master-Gunner died. He passed to the very sound of the guns; But, before his eye grew dim, He had seen the faces of the sons Whose sires had served with him. He had […]

1917 (THE AMERICAN SPIRIT SPEAKS) To the Judge of Right and Wrong With Whom fulfilment lies Our purpose and our power belong, Our faith and sacrifice. Let Freedom’s Land rejoice! Our ancient bonds are riven; Once more to us the eternal choice Of Good or Ill is given. Not at a little cost, Hardly by […]

1917 (‘For here lay the excellent wisdom of him that built Mansoul that the walls could never be broken down nor hurt by the most mighty adverse potentate unless the townsmen gave consent thereto’–BUNYAN’S Holy War) A tinker out of Bedford, A vagrant oft in quod, A private under Fairfax, A minister of God– Two […]

(A SONG OF THE DOMINIONS) 1898 ‘Twixt my house and thy house the pathway is broad, In thy house or my house is half the world’s hoard; By my house and thy house hangs all the world’s fate, On thy house and my house lies half the world’s hate. For my house and thy house […]

God rest you, peaceful gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, But–leave your sports a little while–the dead are borne this way! Armies dead and Cities dead, past all count or care. God rest you, merry gentlemen, what portent see you there? Singing.–Break ground for a wearied host That have no ground to keep. Give them the […]

1918 We’re not so old in the Army List, But we’re not so young at our trade, For we had the honour at Fontenoy Of meeting the Guards’ Brigade. ‘Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare, And Lee that led us then, And after a hundred and seventy years We’re fighting for France again! Old Days! The […]

1916 The Babe was laid in the Manger Between the gentle kine– All safe from cold and danger– ‘But it was not so with mine. (With mine! With mine!) ‘Is it well with the child, is it well?’ The waiting mother prayed. ‘For I know not how he fell, And I know not where he […]

‘Behold there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor’ 1 Samuel XXVIII 7 The road to En-dor is easy to tread For Mother or yearning Wife. There, it is sure, we shall meet our Dead As they were even in life. Earth has not dreamed of the blessing in store For desolate […]

(TO LYDE OF THE MUSIC HALLS) What boots it on the Gods to call? Since, answered or unheard, We perish with the Gods and all Things made–except the Word. Ere certain Fate had touched a heart By fifty years made cold, I judged thee, Lyde, and thy art O’erblown and over-bold. But he–but he, of […]

‘Have you news of my boy Jack?’ Not this tide. ‘When d’you think that he’ll come back?’ Not with this wind blowing, and this tide. ‘Has any one else had word of him?’ Not this tide. For what is sunk will hardly swim, Not with this wind blowing, and this tide. ‘Oh, dear, what comfort […]

(JUTLAND) Not in the thick of the fight, Not in the press of the odds, Do the heroes come to their height, Or we know the demi-gods. That stands over till peace. We can only perceive Men returned from the seas, Very grateful for leave. They grant us sudden days Snatched from their business of […]

1917 They shall not return to us, the resolute, the young, The eager and whole-hearted whom we gave: But the men who left them thriftily to die in their own dung, Shall they come with years and honour to the grave? They shall not return to us, the strong men coldly slain In sight of […]

After the burial-parties leave And the baffled kites have fled, The wise hyaenas come out at eve To take account of our dead. How he died and why he died Troubles them not a whit. They snout the bushes and stones aside And dig till they come to it. They are only resolute they shall […]

(BEFORE THE WAR) (‘The outbreak is in full swing and our death-rate would sicken Napoleon…. Dr M—- died last week, and C—- on Monday, but some more medicines are coming…. We don’t seem to be able to check it at all…. Villages panicking badly…. In some places not a living soul…. But at any rate […]