Sons of the giant Ocean isle In sport our friendly foes for long, Well England loves you, and we smile When you outmatch us many a while, So fleet you are, so keen and strong. You, like that fairy people set Of old in their enchanted sea Far off from men, might well forget An elder nation's toil and fret, Might heed not aught but game and glee. But what your fathers were you are In lands the fathers never knew, 'Neath skies of alien sign and star You rally to the English war; Your hearts are English, kind and true. And now, when first on England falls The shadow of a darkening fate, You hear the Mother ere she calls, You leave your ocean-girdled walls, And face her foemen in the gate. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PRAYER TO THE VIRGIN OF CHARTRES by HENRY BROOKS ADAMS SPRING IN NEW ENGLAND by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE FIRST-FOOT by ALEXANDER ANDERSON APRIL by MARY RUSSELL BARTLETT HINC LACHRIMAE; OR THE AUTHOR TO AURORA: 31 by WILLIAM BOSWORTH |