Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, HIGH TIDE ON THE VICTORIA EMBANKMENT: 4. THE QUEEN'S SONS, by MARGARET LOUISA WOODS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

HIGH TIDE ON THE VICTORIA EMBANKMENT: 4. THE QUEEN'S SONS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The tide of the sea-listen, its breathing voice is triumphant
Last Line: "mine are thy sons!' he calls to thee, 'queen, rejoice in my children.'"
Alternate Author Name(s): Woods, Mrs. Margaret Louisa Bradley
Subject(s): Mothers & Sons; Seashore; Ships & Shipping; Travel; Victoria, Queen Of England (1819-1901); Beach; Coast; Shore; Journeys; Trips


The Tide of the Sea—listen, its breathing voice is triumphant
As the sound of clarions and trumpets heralding kings—
The tide whispers her "Hail,"
Mother! Rulers of men are thy sons, born to be princes
In dim far-frontiered lands. Government is on their shoulders.

"Sovereign justice and order and peace they plant in their footsteps,
They subdue the desert with streams, the vast ravaging rivers
With bridges of steel, alone they grip in a mortal contest
Demons, things that devour,
Plague, Pestilence, Famine, pitiless beasts,
The venomous, ancient, dark, elemental Powers of the Jungle.

"Not in purple arrayed nor crowned with any diadem
Are these thy sons. From the deep heart of unrealised continents,
Where as strangers they rule, they as strangers return,
Mother, here to thy heart.
Many may not return, so hospitable the alien grave.

One is the vital power that is urging them, whether incessant
"They move with the travelling tide or are scattered over Earth.
The Sea glories, the Sea in a rapture of rushing surges
Triumphs, his waves clap their innumerable hands, Dancing before the Sun.
'Mine are thy sons!' he calls to thee, 'Queen, rejoice in my children.'"





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