(A.D. 406) My father’s father saw it not, And I, belike, shall never come, To look on that so-holy spot– The very Rome– Crowned by all Time, all Art, all Might, The equal work of Gods and Man, City beneath whose oldest height– The Race began! Soon to send forth again a brood, Unshakeable, we […]

Rome never looks where she treads. Always her heavy hooves fall, On our stomachs, our hearts or our heads; And Rome never heeds when we bawl. Her sentries pass on–that is all, And we gather behind them in hordes, And plot to reconquer the Wall, With only our tongues for our swords. We are the […]

(Marching Song of a Roman Legion of the Later Empire) When I left home for Lalage’s sake By the Legions’ road to Rimini, She vowed her heart was mine to take With me and my shield to Rimini– (Till the Eagles flew from Rimini!) And I’ve tramped Britain, and I’ve tramped Gaul, And the Pontic […]

(A.D. 1800) Your jar of Virginny Will cost you a guinea Which you reckon too much by five shillings or ten; But light your churchwarden And judge it according, When I’ve told you the troubles of poor honest men! From the Capes of the Delaware, As you are well aware, We sail with tobacco for […]

When the Great Ark, in Vigo Bay, Rode stately through the half-manned fleet, From every ship about her way She heard the mariners entreat– ‘Before we take the seas again, Let down your boats and send us men! ‘We have no lack of victual here With work–God knows!–enough for all, To hand and reef and […]

Prophets have honour all over the Earth, Except in the village where they were born. Where such as knew them boys from birth, Nature-ally hold ’em in scorn. When Prophets are naughty and young and vain, They make a won’erful grievance of it; (You can see by their writings how they complain), But O, ’tis […]

Jubal sang of the Wrath of God And the curse of thistle and thorn– But Tubal got him a pointed rod, And scrabbled the earth for corn. Old–old as that early mould, Young as the sprouting grain– Yearly green is the strife between Jubal and Tubal Cain! Jubal sang of the new-found sea, And the […]

The gull shall whistle in his wake, the blind wave break in fire. He shall fulfil God’s utmost will, unknowing his desire. And he shall see old planets change and alien stars arise, And give the gale his seaworn sail in shadow of new skies. Strong lust of gear shall drive him forth and hunger […]

Now this is the Law of the Jungle–as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back– For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, […]

Excellent herbs had our fathers of old– Excellent herbs to ease their pain– Alexanders and Marigold, Eyebright, Orris, and Elecampane. Basil, Rocket, Valerian, Rue, (Almost singing themselves they run) Vervain, Dittany, Call-me-to-you– Cowslip, Melilot, Rose of the Sun. Anything green that grew out of the mould Was an excellent herb to our fathers of old. […]

Our Fathers in a wondrous age, Ere yet the earth was small, Ensured to us an heritage, And doubted not at all That we, the children of their heart, Which then did beat so high, In later time should play like part For our posterity. A thousand years they steadfast built, To ‘vantage us and […]

And if ye doubt the tale I tell, Steer through the South Pacific swell; Go where the branching coral hives Unending strife of endless lives, Where, leagued about the ‘wildered boat, The rainbow jellies fill and float; And, lilting where the laver lingers, The starfish trips on all her fingers; Where, ‘neath his myriad spines […]

When first by Eden Tree, The Four Great Rivers ran, To each was appointed a Man Her Prince and Ruler to be. But after this was ordained, (The ancient legends tell), There came dark Israel, For whom no River remained. Then He Whom the Rivers obey Said to him: ‘Fling on the ground A handful […]

Land of our Birth, we pledge to thee Our love and toil in the years to be; When we are grown and take our place, As men and women with our race. Father in Heaven who lovest all, Oh help Thy children when they call; That they may build from age to age, An undefiled […]

ELEPHANTS OF THE GUN-TEAMS We lent to Alexander the strength of Hercules, The wisdom of our foreheads, the cunning of our knees. We bowed our necks to service; they ne’er were loosed again,– Make way there, way for the ten-foot teams Of the Forty-Pounder train! GUN-BULLOCKS Those heroes in their harnesses avoid a cannon-ball, And […]

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being […]

(Western Version) Here come I to my own again, Fed, forgiven and known again, Claimed by bone of my bone again And cheered by flesh of my flesh. The fatted calf is dressed for me, But the husks have greater zest for me, I think my pigs will be best for me, So I’m off […]

There are three degrees of bliss At the foot of Allah’s Throne, And the highest place is his Who saves a brother’s soul At peril of his own. There is the Power made known! There are three degrees of bliss In the Gardens of Paradise, And the second place is his Who saves his brother’s […]

Where’s the lamp that Hero lit Once to call Leander home? Equal Time hath shovelled it ‘Neath the wrack of Greece and Rome. Neither wait we any more That worn sail which Argo bore. Dust and dust of ashes close All the Vestal Virgins’ care; And the oldest altar shows But an older darkness there. […]

Much I owe to the Land that grew– More to the Life that fed– But most to Allah Who gave me two Separate sides to my head. Much I reflect on the Good and the True In the Faiths beneath the sun, But most upon Allah Who gave me two Sides to my head, not […]