For All We Have and Are
For all we have and are,
For all our children's fate,
Stand up and meet the war.
The Hun is at the gate!
Our world has passed away In wantonness o'erthrown.
There is nothing left to-day But steel and fire and stone.
Though all we knew depart,
The old commandments stand: "In courage keep your heart,
In strength lift up your hand." Once more we hear the word That sickened earth of old: "No law except the sword Unsheathed and uncontrolled," Once more it knits mankind,
Once more the nations go To meet and break and bind A crazed and driven foe.
Comfort, content, delight — The ages' slow-bought gain — They shrivelled in a night,
Only ourselves remain To face the naked days In silent fortitude,
Through perils and dismays Renewd and re-renewed.
Though all we made depart,
The old commandments stand: "In patience keep your heart,
In strength lift up your hand." No easy hopes or lies Shall bring us to our goal,
But iron sacrifice Of body, will, and soul.
There is but one task for all — For each one life to give.
Who stands if freedom fall?
Who dies if England live?
Rudyard Kipling
Other author posts
The Conundrum Of The Workshops
When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden's green and gold, Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mould; And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart, Till th...
A Childs Garden
Now there is nothing wrong with Except — I think it's called T B And that is why I have to
Recessional A Victorian Ode
God of our fathers, known of old — Lord of our far-flung battle line —Beneath whose awful hand we hold Dominion over palm and pine —Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest we forget — lest we forget The tumult and the shouting dies — The...
Sappers
When the Waters were dried an' the Earth did appear, (It's all one, says the Sapper), The Lord He created the Engineer, Her Majesty's Royal Engineer, With the rank and pay of a Sapper
