There is scarlet on his forehead,
There are scars across his face,
‘Tis the bloody dew of battle dripping down, dripping down,
But the war-heart of the Lion
Turns to iron in its place
When he halts to face disaster, when he turns to meet disgrace,
Stung and keen and mettled with the life-blood of his own.
Let the hunters ‘ware who flout him,
When he calls his whelps about him,
When he sets the goal before him and he settles to the pace.
Tricked and wounded! Are we beaten
Though they hold our strength at play?
We have faced these things aforetimes, long ago, long ago.
From sunlit Sydney Harbour
And ten thousand miles away,
From the far Canadian forests to the Sounds of Milford Bay,
They have answered, they have answered, and we know the answer now.
From the Britains such as these
Strewn across the world-wide seas
Comes the rally and the bugle-note that makes us one to-day.
Beaten! Let them come against us.
We can meet them one and all.
We have faced the World aforetimes, not in vain, not in vain.
Twice ten thousand hearths be widowed,
Twice ten thousand hearts may fall,
But a million voices answer: “We are ready for the call;
And the sword we draw for Justice shall not see its sheath again,
Nor our cannon cease to thunder
Till we break their strength asunder,
And the Lion’s whelps are round him and the Old Flag over all.”
(George Essex Evans)
More Poetry from George Essex Evans:
George Essex Evans Poems based on Topics: World, War & Peace, Faces, Goals, Justice, Lions- The Sword Of Pain (George Essex Evans Poems)
- Ad Astra (George Essex Evans Poems)
- Lux In Tenebris (George Essex Evans Poems)
- A Drought Idyll (George Essex Evans Poems)
- Ode To The Philistines (George Essex Evans Poems)
- Auri Sacra Fames (George Essex Evans Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: World Poems, War & Peace Poems, Faces Poems, Goals Poems, Justice Poems, Lions PoemsBased on Keywords: whelps, tricked, mettled, britains, bugle-note, milford
- Of The Nature Of Things: Book IV - Part 04 - Some Vital Functions (Lucretius Poems)
- Book IV - Part 04 - Some Vital Functions (Lucretius Poems)
- Medulla Poetarum Romanorum - VOL. I. (Content - Courtship) (Henry Baker Poems)
- Army Of Northern Virginia (Stephen Vincent Benet Poems)
- Moslem Worship (John Pierpont Poems)