Hope and Promise of the nation, Expeditionary Force, For Democracy's salvation And Autocracy's remorse, Take a warning and a blessing From your fathers who have fought, So that, both of them possessing, You may set the foe at naught. Take a warning: that the fighting Is not over in a day; Oh, the failures, weary, blighting! Oh, the desperate delay! For the waiting, and the hiding, And the unexpected shock, You will need the calm abiding Of the everlasting rock. Take a blessing: gallant heroes From a nation that is free, You are facing worse than Nero's Cruelty and treachery: All of heaven bends above you, God preserve you safe and true, For the folks at home who love you, And the land that prays for you! We who know the olden story, Freedom's story proudly great, How we glory in your glory And the splendor of your fate! Take our high congratulation, Far against the foeman hurled -- We who fought to save the nation, You who fight to save the world! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CHURCH WINDOWS by GEORGE HERBERT IPHIGENEIA AND AGAMEMNON, FR. THE HELLENICS by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR THE WIDOW'S MITE by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON SONNET: DANTE (2) by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW CASSANDRA SOUTHWICK; 1658 by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER THE LAST DEMAND by FAITH BALDWIN TO DR. AIKIN by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD TO HIS FRIEND THE AUTHOR UPON HIS POEM by CHRISTOPHER BROOKE |