You that love England, who have an ear for her music, The slow movement of clouds in benediction, Clear arias of light thrilling over her uplands, Over the chords of summer sustained peacefully; Ceaseless the leaves' counterpoint in a west wind lively, Blossom and river rippling loveliest allegro, And the storms of wood strings brass at year's finale: Listen. Can you not hear the entrance of a new theme? You who go out alone, on tandem or on pillion, Down arterial roads riding in April, Or sad beside lakes where hill-slopes are reflected Making fires of leaves, your high hopes fallen: Cyclists and hikers in company, day excursionists, Refugees from cursed towns and devastated areas; Know you seek a new world, a saviour to establish Long-lost kinship and restore the bloods fulfilment. You who like peace, good sticks, happy in a small way Watching birds or playing cricket with schoolboys, Who pay for drinks all round, whom disaster chose not; Yet passing derelict mills and barns roof-rent Where despair has burnt itself out -- hearts at a stand- still, Who suffer loss, aware of lowered vitality; We can tell you a secret, offer a tonic; only Submit to the visiting angel, the strange new healer. You above all who have come to the far end, victims Of a run-down machine, who can bear it no longer; Whether in easy chairs chafing at impotence Or against hunger, bullies and spies preserving The nerve for action, the spark of indignation -- Need fight in the dark no more, you know your enemies. You shall be leaders when zero hour is signalled, Wielders of power and welders of a new world. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO CHARLOTTE PULTENEY [IN HER MOTHER'S ARMS] by AMBROSE PHILIPS WE ARE SEVEN by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH AGAMEMNON: HELEN. CHORUS by AESCHYLUS THE ALBATROSS by CHARLES BAUDELAIRE AT A SEACOAST TAVERN by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE TO A WILD BEE by MARY ANN BROWNE ITALY AND THE WORLD by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING THE AULD FARMER'S NEW YEAR MORNING SALUTATION ... AULD MARE by ROBERT BURNS |