Canadian Battlefields, and Other Poems — John Shaqi
Canadian Battlefields, and Other PoemsWilkinson, J. R. (John Richardson)
History
Canadian Battlefields, and Other Poems
Wilkinson, J. R. (John Richardson)
Canada -- History -- Poetry; Canadian poetry -- 19th century
Then up in your might, Canadians!
No matter what your creed may be,
And stand for country and the right,
E’er steadfast in our unity.
The half a continent is ours,
Then let our hearts be all aflame;
The field ’s sufficient for us all,
Where all may win both wealth and fame.
We love this fair Canadian land,
O’erstrewn with mountain, plain and lake;
And we would even dare to die
For our dear homes and country’s sake.
Remember it? Aye, remember--
They burn within our thoughts to-day--
Queenston Heights, famed Lundy’s Lane,
Stony Creek, Quebec, Chateauguay.
There, side by side with the regulars,
Our fathers faced the invading foe,
And swept them from our sacred shores
By stern-delivered blow on blow.
And should they dare to come again
Where the old flag in freedom waves,
We’ll meet them firm, unyielding still,
And strew these peaceful shores with graves.
Hurrah! hurrah for Canada!
For the land that is great and free;
“The flag that’s braved a thousand years,”
Ever that grand old flag for me.
Touch not its daring crimson folds--
It bears no cringing coward stain;
No traitor hand shall pull it down,
Nor mar its glorious fame.
It floats to-day o’er every sea;
In every clime, in every zone,
That daring flag defiantly
Is to the free wild winds out-thrown.
The sun may rise and set again,
But not on Britain’s grand domain--
The Empire dots the wide world o’er,
And Britain’s heart is all aflame.
Hurrah! hurrah for Canada!
And the Empire that rules the sea!
In union with the Motherland
We are ever safe and free.
Thus, moving on from year to year,
All time shall sing our brave story--
A united empire rolling on
To an immortal glory.
THINK OF ME.
List when the wind in summertime is sighing,
And a wealth of verdant bloom is on the lea;
Seek the path our feet together used to wander,
And think of me.
Watch when the sunset’s tender glow of evening
Fades into twilight’s dreamy ecstasy,
And thy soul is soothed by nature’s subtle fulness,
And think of me.
And when the shadowy arms of night enfoldeth
The hills, and darken o’er the throbbing sea;
Steal tenderly out beneath the stars’ pale beaming,
And think of me.
Go when the autumn leaves are sadly falling,
And the melancholy winds appeal to thee,
And stillness broods where grass and flowers are dying,
And think of me.
And when thy soul to music’s touch is thrilling,
And thy voice repeats in tenderest melody
The songs we loved when you and I were dreaming,
And think of me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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