Patriotic Song: A book of English verse, being an anthology of the patriotic poetry of the British Empire, from the defeat of the Spanish Armada till the death of Queen Victoria
General
Patriotic Song: A book of English verse, being an anthology of the patriotic poetry of the British Empire, from the defeat of the Spanish Armada till the death of Queen Victoria
English poetry; Patriotic poetry, English
O the red rose shineth rare,
And the lily saintly fair;
But my shamrock, one in three,
Takes the inmost heart of me!
_Katharine Tynan Hinkson._
JOHNSON
CLXXXIX
WAYS OF WAR
A terrible and splendid trust
Heartens the host of Inisfail:
Their dream is of the swift sword-thrust,
A lighting glory of the Gael.
Croagh Patrick is the place of prayers,
And Tara the assembling place:
But each sweet wind of Ireland bears
The trump of battle on its race.
From Dursey Isle to Donegal,
From Howth to Achill, the glad noise
Rings: and the heirs of glory fall,
Or victory crowns their fighting joys.
A dream! a dream! an ancient dream!
Yet, ere peace come to Inisfail,
Some weapons on some field must gleam,
Some burning glory fire the Gael.
That field may lie beneath the sun,
Fair for the treading of an host:
That field in realms of thought be won,
And armed minds do their uttermost:
Some way, to faithful Inisfail,
Shall come the majesty and awe
Of martial truth, that must prevail,
To lay on all the eternal law.
_Lionel Johnson._
V
CANADA
SMITH
CXC
THE CANADIANS ON THE NILE
O, the East is but West, with the sun a little hotter;
And the pine becomes a palm, by the dark Egyptian water:
And the Nile’s like many a stream we know, that fills its
brimming cup,--
We’ll think it is the Ottawa, as we track the batteaux up!
_Pull, pull, pull! as we track the batteaux up!
It’s easy shooting homeward, when we’re at the top!_
O, the cedar and the spruce line each dark Canadian river;
But the thirsty date is here, where the sultry sunbeams quiver;
And the mocking mirage spreads its view, afar on either hand;
But strong we bend the sturdy oar, towards the Southern land!
O, we’ve tracked the Rapids up, and o’er many a portage crossing;
And it’s often such we’ve seen, though so loud the waves are tossing!
Then, it’s homeward when the run is o’er! o’er stream, and
ocean deep--
To bring the memory of the Nile, where the maple shadows sleep!
And it yet may come to pass, that the hearts and hands so ready
May be sought again to help, when some poise is off the steady!
And the Maple and the Pine be matched, with British Oak the while,
As once beneath Egyptian suns, the Canadians on the Nile!
_Pull, pull, pull! as we track the batteaux up!
It’s easy shooting homeward, when we’re at the top!_
_William Wye Smith._
ANDERSON
CXCI
THE DEATH OF WOLFE
‘On with the charge!’ he cries, and waves his sword;--
One rolling cheer five thousand voices swell;--
The levelled guns pour forth their leaden shower,
While thund’ring cannons’ roar half drowns the Huron yell.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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