Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE RED CROSS OF ENGLAND: ENTRY OF THE MARINES, by ELIZA COOK


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RED CROSS OF ENGLAND: ENTRY OF THE MARINES, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Old england! Thy name shall yet warrant thy fame
Last Line: Neath the red cross of england—the flag of the brave.
Subject(s): Great Britain - History; Marines - Great Britain; Sailing & Sailors; War; Waterloo; English History; Seamen; Sails; Battle Of Waterloo


OLD England! thy name shall yet warrant thy fame,
If the brow of the foeman should scowl;
Let the Lion be stirred by too daring a word,
And beware of his echoing growl.
We have still the same breed of the man and the steed
That wore nobly our Waterloo wreath;
We have more of the blood that formed Inkerman's flood,
When it poured in the whirlpool of Death;
And the foeman will find neither coward nor slave
'Neath the Red Cross of England—the Flag of the Brave.

We have jackets of blue, still as dauntless and true
As the tars that our Nelson led on;
Give them room on the main, and they'll show us again
How the Nile and Trafalgar were won.
Let a ball show its teeth, let a blade leave its sheath,
To defy the proud strength of our might,
We have iron-mouthed guns, we have steel hearted sons,
That will prove how the Britons can fight.
Our ships and our sailors are kings of the wave,
'Neath the Red Cross of England—the Flag of the Brave.

Though a tear might arise in our women's bright eyes,
And a sob check the fearful "Good-bye,"
Yet these women would send lover, brother or friend,
To the war-field, to conquer or die!
Let the challenge be flung from the braggart's bold tongue,
And that challenge will fiercely be met;
And our banner unfurled shall proclaim to the world
That "there's life in the old dog yet."
Hurrah! for the men on the land or the wave,
'Neath the Red Cross of England—the Flag of the Brave.





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