I've seen them, too, those blossoms red, Show 'gainst the trench lines' screen, A crimson stream that waved and spread Thro' all the brown and green: I've seen them dyed a deeper hue Than ever nature gave, Shell-torn from slopes on which they grew, To cover many a grave. Bright blossoms fair by nature set Along the dusty ways, You cheered us, in the battle's fret, Thro' long and weary days: You gave us hope: if fate be kind, We'll see that longed-for morn, When home again we march and find Red Poppies in the Corn. W. CAMPBELL GALBRAITH _By permission of the Author_ EXTRACT FROM LECTURE "HOW WE STAND NOW" For my own part I am more proud of Great Britain than ever in my life before, and that largely because, in spite of this froth or scum that sometimes floats on the surface, she is fundamentally true to her great traditions, and treads steadily underfoot those elements which, if they had control, would depose us from being a nation of "white men", of rulers, of gentlemen, and bring us to the level of the enemy whom we denounce, or of the "lesser breeds without the law". Probably many of us have learned only through this war how much we loved our country. That love depends, of course, not mainly on pride, but on old habit and familiarity, on neighbourliness, and memories of childhood. Yet, mingling with that love for our old country, I do feel a profound pride. I am proud of the response to the Empire's call--a response absolutely unexampled in history, five million men and more gathering from the ends of the earth; subjects of the British Empire coming to offer life and limb for the Empire, not because they were subjects, but because they were free and willing to come. I am proud of our soldiers and our sailors, our invincible sailors! I am proud of our men in the workshop and the factory; proud of our men, and almost more proud of our women--working one and all, day after day, with constant overtime, and practically no holidays, for the most part demanding no trade safeguards, and insisting on no conditions, but giving freely to the common cause all that they have to give. I am proud of our political leaders and civil administrators, proud of their resource, their devotion, their unshaken coolness, their magnanimity in the face of intrigue and detraction, their magnificent interpretation of the nation's will.