Class TT\ +H5+ Book ^5^ OopyiigM A SONG OF THE ENGLISH A SONG OF THE ENGLISH . ,,, N,.\ I Mill K, 1909 CONTENTS I. A SONG OF THE ENGLISH Fair is our lot — () goodly is om- heritage! II. THE COASTWISE LIGHTS Our broil'.* arc, bound with spindrift and the /recti is on. our knees. III. THE SON*! OK TMK DEAD Hear now the Song of the Dead— in the North by th< torn berg-edges. IV. THE DEEP-SEA CABLES The wrecks dissolve above us ; their dust drops down from afar. V. THE SONG OF THE SONS One from the ends of tin- earth gifts at an open door. A SONG OF THE ENGLISH VI. THE SONli OF THE CITIES BOMBA"! Royal <(//./ Doirfr-mi/iil, I the Queen. CALCUTTA .l/r the Sea captain loved, the Riverbuilt MADRAS dive kissed me on the mouth and eyes and brow. EtANGOOH Hail, Mother! /><> they rail me rich in trade f SINGAPORE Hail, Mother! East and West must seek mil aid. HONG KONG Hart, Mother! Hold me fast ; >n>i Praya sleeps. A SONG OF THE ENGLISH THE SONG OF THE CITIES— Continued HALIFAX Into the mist my guardian prows put forth. QUEBEC AND MONTREAL Peace is our portion. Yet a whisper rose. VICTORIA From East to West the circling word has }>assed. CAPETOWN Hail ! Snatched and bartered oft from hand to hand. MELBOURNE Greeting ! Nor fear nor favour won us place. SYDNEY Greeting ! My birth-stain have I turned to good. BRISBANE The northern stirp beneath the southern skies. A SONG OF THE ENGLISH THE SONG OF THE CITIES— Continued. HOBART Mans love first found me; man's hate made me Hell. AUCKLAND Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite, apart. VII. ENGLAND'S ANSWER Truly ye come of The Blood; slower to bless than to ban. ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR 1. Frontispiece. Follow after — we are waiting by the trails that we lost, For the sounds of many footsteps, for the tread of a host. 2. Fair is our lot — goodly is our heritage! (Humble ye, my people, and be fearful in your mirth ! For the Lord our God Most High He hath made the deep as dry, He hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the Earth ! 3. Our brows are bound with spindrift and the weed is on our knees; Our loins are battered 'neath us by the swinging, smoking seas. 4. Through the endless summer evenings, on the lineless, level floors. 5. Come up, come in from Eastward, from the guardports of the Morn! Beat up, beat in from Southerly, gipsies of the Horn, Swift shuttles of an Empire's loom that weave us, main to main, The Coastwise Lights of England give you welcome back again ! 6. Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need, Till the Soul that is not man's soul was lent us to lead. T. Then the wood failed- then the food failed— then the last watei dried — In the faith of little children we lay down and died. s. On the sand-drift — on the veldt-side — in the fern-scruh we lay. That our sons might follow after hy the hones on the way. 0. Follow after — follow after — for the harvest is sown : By the bones about the wayside ye shall come to your own ! 10. When Drake went down to the Horn, And England was crowned thereby. 11. We have fed our sea for a thousand years, And she calls us, still unfed, Though there's never a wave of all her waves But marks our English dead. 12. If Mood he the price of admiralty, Lord God, we ha' paid in full! 1 :>. There's never a flood goes shoreward now But lifts a keel we manned ; There's never an ebb goes seaward now But drops our dead on the sand — But slinks our dead on the sands forlore From the Ducies to the Swin. 14. The wrecks dissolve, above us; their dust drops down from afar — Down to the dark, the utter dark, where the blind white sea- snakes are. 15. Here in the womb of the world — here on the tie-ribs of earth Words, and the words of men, flicker and flutter and beat — Warning, sorrow and gain, salutation and mirth — For a Power troubles the Still that has neither voice nor feet. 16. Those that have sta3 T ed at thy knees, Mother, go call them in — We that were bred overseas wait and would speak with our kin. Not in the dark do we fight— haggle and flout and gibe; Selling our love for a price, loaning our hearts for a bribe. 17. Bombay. 18. Calcutta. 19. Madras. 20. Rangoon. 21. Singapore. 22. Hong-Kong. 23. Halifax. 24. Quebec and Montreal. 25. Capetown. LELKOl'KNE. 27. Sydney. 28. BOBAET. •.".I. Ari'KLAND. 30. Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether, But we do not fall on the neck nor kiss when we come together. My arm is nothing weak, my strength is not gone by ; Sons, I have borne many sons, but my dugs are not dry. A SONG OF THE ENGLISH II HE HATH SMOTE FOR US A PATHWAY TO THE ENDS OF ALL THE EARTH Fair is our lot — goodly is our heritage ! (Humble ye, my people, and be fearful in your mirth !) For the Lord our God Most High He hath made the deep as dry, He hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the Earth ! A SONG OF THE ENGLISH Fair is our lot — O goodly is our heritage! [Humble ye, my people, and be fearful in your mirth !) For the Lord our God Most High He hath made the deep as dry, He hath smote for us a pathway to the cuds of all the Farlh / I we s td—ando i s a />-' -: ( 7;/. 1 dis \qyed, strayed, ' . . v ord shal with than! Hold ye the Faith— the Faith our Fathers seated Whoring not with visions — overwise and over- stale E * cept ve fay the Lord Single //carl (an/ single sword, Of your children in their bondage shall He ask litem treble tale I v ! i a " obedie ice — ■ each hh - ,,r " >'<«>■■' <> ong a ong of broken interludes— si song of little cunning; of a tnge, nothing worth. Through the naked words and mean May ye %ee the truth bet way. 1 X FOLLOW AFTER Follow after— follow a ft or for the harvest is sown : By tho bones about the wayside ye shall oome to your own ! WATER DR X WHEN DBAKB WENT DOWN TO THE HOBN When Drake went down to the lion,, And England was crowned thereby. XI SHE CALLS US, STILL UNFED We hare fed our sea for a thousand yearg, And slio calls us, still unfed, Though there's never a ware of all her waves But mark-, our English dead. xn LORD GOD, WE HA' J 'A ID IN FULL! If blood be the price of admiralty, Lord God, we ha' paid in f.,n | XIII BUT DROPS OUR DEAD ON THE SAND There 's never a flood goes shoreward now But lifts a keel we manned; There's never an ebb goes seaward now But drops our dead on the sand- But slinks our dead on the sands forlore, From the Ducies to the Swin. Hear now the Song of the Dead— in the North by the torn berg-edges — They thai took still to the Pole, asleep by their hide-stripped sledges. Snug of the Dead in the South— in the sun by their skeleton horses, Wliere the warrigal whimpers and bays through the dust of the sere river-courses. '1UU 'i. r #?t i" Song of the Dead 1 1 the Ecu kloof— in the in t/te fVest in the Barrens, s ■/•/ the I . . g . We were dreamers, dreaming greatly, in the man stilled town ; We yearned beyond tin; sky line where the strange roads go down. Came the Whisper, came the Vision, fame the Power with the Need, Till the Soul that is not man's soul was lent as to lead. A- tin; deer breaks- as the steer breaks from the herd where; they graze, In the faith of little children we went on our Then the wood failed thou the Pood failed -then the last water dried In the faith of little children we lay down and died. On the sand-drift — on the veldt-side — in the fern- scrub we lay. That our sons might follow after l>y the hones on the way. Follow after — follow after! We have watered the root. And the bud has come to blossom that ripens for fruit ! Follow after — wc are waiting, by the trails that we lost, For the sounds of many footsteps, for the tread of a host. Follow after — follow after — for the harvest is sown : By the bones about the wayside ye shall come to your own ! What Drake went down to the Horn And England was crowned thereby, 'Twixt seas unsailed and shores unhailed Our Lodge— our Lodge was born [And England was crowned thereby /) Which never shall close again By day nor yet by night, II 'hile man shall take his life to stake At risk of shoal or main {By day nor yet by night) But standeth even so As now we witness //ere. While men depart, of joyful heart, Adventure for to know (As now dear witness here!) We have fed our sea for a thousand years And she calls us, still unfed, Though there's never ;i wave of nil her waves But marks our English dead: We have strawed our best to the weed's unrest To the shark and the sheering gull. If blood be the price of admiralty, Lord < rod, we ha' paid in full ! There's never a flood goes shoreward now But lifts a keel we manned : There's never an ebb goes seaward now Bu1 drops our dead on the sand But slinks owv dead on the sands Forlore, Prom the Ducies to the Swin. It' blood be the price oi' admiralty, It' blood be the price of admiralty, Lord God, we ha' paid it in ! ' We iini-t, feed one aea i'<>r a thousand years, For that is our doom and pride, A if, w;i-: when they sailed with the Golden Hind, Or the wreck that struck last tide Or the wreck that lies on the spouting reef Where the ghastly blue-lights flare, [f blood be the price of admiralty, If blood be the price of admiralty, tf blood be the price of admiralty, Lord God, we ha' bought it fair ! - THE DEEP-SEi CABLES X I V THE WRECKS DISSOLVE Ai'.ovi; U8 The wrecks di isolve above at; their ilmt, dropi down from afar Down to the dark, to the utter dark, where the blind white sea-snakes are. X V IN THE WOMB OF THE WORLD Here, in the WOXttb of 1 ho world lion; on the t.ioiih. ol earl ii Words, and the wordi of men, Bicker and Sutter and beat - Warning, sorrow and gain, lalutatioo and mirtfa — Wot a Power troubles the Still that has neither voice nor frjet.. VRECKS DISSOLVE US t THE DEEP-SEA CABLES The wrecks dissolve above us; their dust drops down from afar — Down to the dark, to the utter dark, where the blind white sea-snakes are. There is no sound, no echo of sound, in the deserts of the deep, Or the great grey level plains of ooze where the shell-burred cables creep. ju^a Here in the womb of the world here on the tie- ribs of earth Words, and the words of men, flicker and flutter and beat Warning, sorrow and gain, salutation and mirth For a Power troubles the Still that has neither voice nor feet, They have wakened the timeless Things ; they hare killed their father Time; Joining hands in the -loom, a league from the last of the sun. Hush ! Men tali to-day o'er the waste of the ultimate slime, And a new Word run-; between: whispering, ■ I.' t ii- \„- one ! ' XVI WE THAT WERE BRED OVERSEAS Those that have stayed at thy knees, Mother, go call them in — We that were bred overseas wait and would speak with our kin. Not in the dark do we fight-haggle and flout and gibe ; Selling our love for a price, loaning our hearts for a bribe. THE SONG OF THE SONS THE SONG OF THE SONS One from the ends of the earth — gifts at an open door — Treason has much, but we, Mother, thy sons have more ! From the whine of a dying man, from the snarl of a wolf-pack freed, Turn, and the world is thine. Mother, be proud of thy seed ! Count, are we feeble or few? Hear, is our speech so rude ? Look, are we poor in the land? Judge, arc we men of The Blood ? Those th.it have stayed at thy knees, Mother, gu call them in We that were bred overseas wait and would speak w ith our kin. Not in the dark do we fight daggle and flout and gibe ; Selling our love for a price, loaning our hearts for a bribe. Gifts have wo only to-daj Love without promise or too Hoar, tor thy children speak, from the uttermost parts of the sea ! THE SONG OF THE CITIES „ . XVII. BOMBAY XVIII. CALCUTTA XIX. MADRAS XX. RANGOON XXI. SINGAPORE XXII. HONG-KONG XXIII. HALIFAX XXIV. QUEBEC AND MONTREAL XXV. CAPETOWN XXVI. MELBOURNE XXVII. SYDNEY XXVIII. HOBART XXIX. AUCKLAND •^ BOMBAY ; JTTA MADRAS ft- ■ f^^s XeX n ^*X5wm RANGOON HONG-KONG QUEBL '.EAL . -=* —~y^ CAPETOWN HOBART ^ AUCKLAND THE SONG OF THE CITIES Ik v) I'fffifflmSgm ^jf iij^^i^^iif \ i ' \/<:i KjM^fflM^.1^^^^— ^.;'J p w T """ S^> Royal and Dower-royal, I the Queen Fronting thy richest sea with richer hands — ■ A thousand mills roar through me where I glean All races from all land-. CALCUTTA Me the Sea-captain loved, the River built, Wealth sought and Kings adventured life to hold. Hail, England! I am Asia— Power on silt, Death in my hands, but Gold! Pp^ /B !l i\Wm\ ■ IBOffiiHUffil ^i:u4, w - (ill l fe|SS ISi Olive kissed me on the mouth and eyes and brow Wonderful kisses, so that I became Crowned above Queens — a withered beldame now, Brooding on ancient fame. Hail, Mother! Do they call me rich in trade? Little care I, but hear the shorn priest drone, And watch my silk-clad lovers, man by maid, Laugh 'neath my Shwe Dagon. SINGAPORE Hail, Mother! East and West must seek ray aid Ere the spent gear may dare the port- afar. The second doorway of the wide world's trade Is mine to loose or bar. HONG-KONG Hail, Mother! If old me fast; my Praya sleeps Under innumerable keels to-day. Fet guard (and landward), or to-morrow sweeps Thy warships down the bay! Into the mist my guardian prows put forth, Behind the mist my virgin ramparts lie, The Warden of the Honour of the North, Sleepless and veiled am T ! QUEBEC AND MONTREAL Peace is our portion. Yet a whisper rose, Foolish and causeless, half in jest, half hate. Now wake we and remember mighty blows, And, fearing no man, wait! VICTORIA From East to West the circling word has passed, Till West is East beside our land-locked blue; From East to West the tested chain holds fast, The well-forged link rings true ! CAPETOWN Hail! Snatched and bartered oft from hand to hand, I dream my dream, by rock and heath and pine, Of Empire to the northward. Ay, one land From Lion's Head to Line ! MELBOURNE j&gpM£ Greeting ! Nor fear nor favour won us place, Got between greed of gold and dread of drouth, Loud-voiced and reckless as the wild tide-race That whips our harbour-mouth ! Greeting ! My birth-stain have T turned to good Forcing strong wills perverse to steadfastness ; The first flush of the tropics in my blood, And at my feet Success ! The northern stirp beneath the southern skies — I build ;i Nation for an Empire's need, Suffer a little, and my land shall rise, Queen over lands indeed ! Man's love first found me; man's hate made me Hell; For my bal.es' sake I cleansed those infamies. Earnest for leave to live and labour well, God flung me peace and ease. AUCKLAND Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite, apart — On H-, on ns the unswerving season smiles, Who wonder 'mid our fern why men depart To seek the Happy Isles! ENGLAND'S ANSWER XXX MY ARM IS NOTHING WEAK, MY STRENGTH IS NOT GONE BY Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether, But we do not fall on the neck nor kiss when we come together. My arm is nothing weak, my strength is not gone by ; Sons, I have borne many sons, but my dugs are not dry. MY ARM IS BY ENGLAND'S ANSWER Jf&^M^lWK 41411 hIuImHhm m^ %;v?^^ Jill JHS^II i '1 1111 HfflK^/tftf W IS, Truly ye come of The Blood; slower to bless than to ban; Little used to lie down at the bidding of any Flesh of the flesh that I bred, bone of the bone that I bare ; Stark as your sons shall be — stern as your fathers were. Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether, But we do not fall on the neck nor kiss when we come together. My arm is nothing- weak, my strength is not gone by; Sons, I have borne many sons, but my dugs are not dry. Look, I have made ye a place and opened wide the doors, That ye may talk together, your Barons and Coun- cillors — Wards of the Outer March, Lords of the Lower Seas, Ay, talk to your grey mother that bore you on her knees ! — That ye may talk together, brother to brother's face — Thus for the good of your peoples — thus for the Pride of the Race. Also, we will make promise. So long as The Blood endures, I shall know that your good is mine : ye shall feel that my strength is yours : In the day of Armageddon, at the last great fight of all, That Our House stand together and the pillars do not fall. Draw now the threefold knot firm on the ninefold bands, And the Law that ye make shall be law after the rule of your lands. This for the waxen Heath, and that for the Wattle- bloom, This for the Maple-leaf, and that for the southern Broom. The Law that ye make shall be law and I do not press my will, Because ye are Sons of The Blood and call me Mother still. Now must ye speak to your kinsmen and they must speak to you, After the use of the English, in straight-flung words and few. Go to your work and be strong, halting not in your ways, Baulking the end half-won for an instant dole of praise. Stand to your work and be wise — certain of sword and pen, Who are neither children nor Gods, but men in a world of men ! \ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 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