SONGS OF THE ROAD By Arthur Conan Doyle Contents I. NARRATIVE VERSES AND SONGS SONGS OF THE ROAD A HYMN OF EMPIRE SIR NIGEL'S SONG THE ARAB STEED A POST-IMPRESSIONIST EMPIRE BUILDERS THE GROOM'S ENCORE THE BAY HORSE THE OUTCASTS THE END 1902-1909 THE WANDERER BENDY'S SERMON II. PHILOSOPHIC VERSES COMPENSATION THE BANNER OF PROGRESS HOPE RELIGIO MEDICI MAN'S LIMITATION MIND AND MATTER DARKNESS III MISCELLANEOUS VERSES A WOMAN'S LOVE BY THE NORTH SEA DECEMBER'S SNOW SHAKESPEARE'S EXPOSTULATION THE EMPIRE A VOYAGE THE ORPHANAGE SEXAGENARIUS LOQUITUR NIGHT VOICES THE MESSAGE THE ECHO ADVICE TO A YOUNG AUTHOR A LILT OF THE ROAD SONGS OF THE ROAD By Arthur Conan Doyle Garden City New York DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1911 J. C. D. THIS-AND-ALL February, 1911 FOREWORD If it were not for the hillocks You'd think little of the hills; The rivers would seem tiny If it were not for the rills. If you never saw the brushwood You would under-rate the trees; And so you see the purpose Of such little rhymes as these. Crowborough 1911 I. NARRATIVE VERSES AND SONGS SONGS OF THE ROAD A HYMN OF EMPIRE (Coronation Year, 1911) God save England, blessed by Fate, So old, yet ever young: The acorn isle from which the great Imperial oak has sprung! And God guard Scotland's kindly soil, The land of stream and glen, The granite mother that has bred A breed of granite men! God save Wales, from Snowdon's vales To Severn's silver strand! For all the grace of that old race Still haunts the Celtic land. And, dear old Ireland, God save you, And heal the wounds of old, For every grief you ever knew May joy come fifty-fold! Set Thy guard over us, May Thy shield cover us, Enfold and uphold us On land and on sea! From the palm to the pine, From the snow to the line, Brothers together And children of Thee. Thy blessing, Lord, on Canada, Young giant of the West, Still upward lay her broadening way, And may her feet be blessed! And Africa, whose hero breeds Are blending into one, Grant that she tread the path which leads To holy unison. May God protect Australia, Set in her Southern Sea! Though far thou art, it cannot part Thy brother folks from thee. And you, the Land of Maori, The island-sisters fair, Ocean hemmed and lake be-gemmed, God hold you in His care!