Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PERIL OF JAPAN, by WILLIAM STEWARD GORDON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PERIL OF JAPAN, by                    
First Line: Arise! Thou little second greece
Last Line: For which your race was born!
Subject(s): War


Arise! thou little Second Greece,
Go forth and win your star,
For lo, your horoscope is cast
In gruesome clouds of war.

Your sires have wrought in bloody sweat
To lengthen out your days,
Your sons have sought the western world
And studied well her ways.

Blend art with ancient valor now,
Nor pause you for the night,
For see! with bristling fleet appears
The mighty Muscovite.

The "Arctic Bear's" insatiate greed
Has claimed you for his maw;
He scented long your honeyed isles,
And reaches forth his paw—

And one would seize the Union Jack
Down by the Bengal Bay—
His breath would strike the flag of France,
And send it home to stay.

Let China how her hoary head
If ever this shall be—
For next he'd lick her dripping blood,
And rule the southern sea.

Let Tenno's spirit come again
Like Fuji-yama's flame!
"Land of the Rising Sun," arise!
Add luster to your name!

Thou Guardian of the Orient,
Strike now in sacred scorn!
Strike now the blow omnipotent
For which your race was born!





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