THE YEARS BETWEENBY RUDYARD KIPLINGMETHUEN AND CO. LTD.36 ESSEX STREET W.C.LONDONFirst Published in 1919DEDICATIONTO THE SEVEN WATCHMENSeven Watchmen sitting in a tower,Watching what had come upon mankind,Showed the Man the Glory and the Power,And bade him shape the Kingdom to his mind.'All things on Earth your will shall win you'('Twas so their counsel ran)'But the Kingdom—the Kingdom is within you,'Said the Man's own mind to the Man.For time, and some time—As it was in the bitter years before,So it shall be in the over-sweetened hour—That a man's mind is wont to tell him moreThan Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower.CONTENTSPAGECONTENTSviiINDEX TO FIRST LINESxiBENEFACTORS, THE96CHOICE, THE35'CITY OF BRASS, THE'148COVENANT, THE13CRAFTSMAN, THE91DEAD KING, THE100DEATH-BED, A106DECLARATION OF LONDON, THE6DEDICATIONvEN-DOR55EPITAPHS135FEMALE OF THE SPECIES, THE128'FOR ALL WE HAVE AND ARE'21FRANCE15GEHAZI109GETHSEMANE85HOLY-WAR, THE38HOUSES, THE42HYÆNAS, THE68JUSTICE156IRISH GUARDS, THE48LORD ROBERTS31MARY'S SON80MESOPOTAMIA65MY BOY JACK61NATIVITY, A52NATURAL THEOLOGY121OLDEST SONG, THE119OUTLAWS, THE27PILGRIM'S WAY, A114PRO-CONSULS, THE87QUESTION, THE33RECANTATION, A58ROWERS, THE1RUSSIA TO THE PACIFISTS44SONG AT COCK-CROW, A125SONG IN STORM, A24SONG OF THE LATHES, THE81SONS OF MARTHA, THE75SPIES' MARCH, THE70THINGS AND THE MAN93ULSTER9VERDICTS, THE63VETERANS, THE5VIRGINITY, THE112ZION29INDEX TO FIRST LINESPAGEAcross a world where all men grieve,156A.'I was a "have"'B.'I was a "have-not,"'135After the burial-parties leave,68Ah! What avails the classic bent,96A tinker out of Bedford,38Be well assured that on our side,24Brethren, how shall it fare with me,33Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all,15For all we have and are,21God rest you, peaceful gentlemen, let nothing you dismay,44'Have you news of my boy Jack?'61He passed in the very battle-smoke,31I ate my fill of a whale that died,121I do not look for holy saints to guide me on my way,114If you stop to find out what your wages will be,80In a land that the sand overlays—the ways to her gates are untrod,148Not in the thick of the fight,63Oh ye who hold the written clue,93Once, after long-drawn revel at The Mermaid,91Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower,vThe Babe was laid in the Manger,52The banked oars fell an hundred strong,1The dark eleventh hour,9The Doorkeepers of Zion,29The fans and the beltings they roar round me,81The first time that Peter denied his Lord,125The Garden called Gethsemane,85The overfaithful sword returns the user,87There are no leaders to lead us to honour, and yet without leaders we sally,70The road to En-dor is easy to tread,55These were never your true love's eyes,119The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited that good part,75They shall not return to us, the resolute, the young,65'This is the State above the Law,106To-day, across our fathers' graves,5To the Judge of Right and Wrong,35Through learned and laborious years,27Try as he will, no man breaks wholly loose,112'Twixt my house and thy house the pathway is broad,42We're not so old in the Army List,48We thought we ranked above the chance of ill,13We were all one heart and one race,6What boots it on the Gods to call?58'Whence comest thou, Gehazi,109When the Himalayan peasant meets the he-bear in his pride,128Who in the Realm to-day lays down dear life for the sake of a land more dear?100THE ROWERS1902(When Germany proposed that England should help her in a naval demonstration to collect debts from Venezuela.)The banked oars fell an hundred strong,And backed and threshed and ground,But bitter was the rowers' songAs they brought the war-boat round.They had no heart for the rally and roarThat makes the whale-bath smoke—When the great blades cleave and hold and leaveAs one on the racing stroke.They sang:—'What reckoning do you keep,And steer her by what star,If we come unscathed from the Southern deepTo be wrecked on a Baltic bar?'Last night you swore our voyage was done,But seaward still we go,And you tell us now of a secret vowYou have made with an open foe!'That we must lie off a lightless coastAnd haul and back and veer,At the will of the breed that have wronged us mostFor a year and a year and a year!'There was never a shame in ChristendieThey laid not to our door—And you say we must take the winter seaAnd sail with them once more?'Look South! The gale is scarce o'erpastThat stripped and laid us down,When we stood forth but they stood fastAnd prayed to see us drown'Our dead they mocked are scarcely cold,Our wounds are bleeding yet—And you tell us now that our strength is soldTo help them press for a debt'''Neath all the flags of all mankindThat use upon the seas,Was there no other fleet to findThat you strike hands with these?'Of evil times that men can chooseOn evil fate to fall,What brooding Judgment let you looseTo pick the worst of all?'In sight of peace—from the Narrow SeasO'er half the world to run—With a cheated crew, to league anewWith the Goth and the shameless Hun!'THE VETERANS[Written for the gathering of survivors of the Indian Mutiny, Albert Hall, 1907.]To-day, across our fathers' graves,The astonished years revealThe remnant of that desperate hostWhich cleansed our East with steel.Hail and farewell! We greet you here,With tears that none will scorn—O Keepers of the House of old,Or ever we were born!One service more we dare to ask—Pray for us, heroes, pray,That when Fate lays on us our taskWe do not shame the Day!THE DECLARATION OF LONDONJUNE 29, 1911('On the re-assembling of Parliament after the Coronation, the Government have no intention of allowing their followers to vote according to their convictions on the Declaration of London, but insist on a strictly party vote'—Daily Papers.)We were all one heart and one raceWhen the Abbey trumpets blew.For a moment's breathing-spaceWe had forgotten youNow you return to your honoured placePanting to shame us anew.We have walked with the Ages dead—With our Past alive and ablaze,And you bid us pawn our honour for bread;This day of all the days!And you cannot wait till our guests are sped,Or last week's wreath decays?The light is still in our eyesOf Faith and Gentlehood,Of Service and Sacrifice,And it does not match our mood,To turn so soon to your treacheriesThat starve our land of her food.Our ears still carry the soundOf our once Imperial seas,Exultant after our King was crowned,Beneath the sun and the breeze.It is too early to have them boundOr sold at your decrees.Wait till the memory goes,Wait till the visions fade,We may betray in time, God knows,But we would not have it said,When you make report to our scornful foes,That we kissed as we betrayed!ULSTER1912('Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.'—Isaiah lix 6)The dark eleventh hourDraws on and sees us soldTo every evil powerWe fought against of old.Rebellion, rapine, hate,Oppression, wrong and greedAre loosed to rule our fate,By England's act and deed.The Faith in which we stand,The laws we made and guard,Our honour, lives, and landAre given for rewardTo Murder done by night,To Treason taught by day,To folly, sloth, and spite,And we are thrust away.The blood our fathers spilt,Our love, our toils, our pains,Are counted us for guilt,And only bind our chains.Before an Empire's eyesThe traitor claims his price.What need of further lies?We are the sacrifice.We asked no more than leaveTo reap where we had sown,Through good and ill to cleaveTo our own flag and throne.Now England's shot and steelBeneath that flag must showHow loyal hearts should kneelTo England's oldest foe.We know the war preparedOn every peaceful home,We know the hells declaredFor such as serve not Rome—The terror, threats, and dreadIn market, hearth, and field—We know, when all is said,We perish if we yield.Believe, we dare not boast,Believe, we do not fear—We stand to pay the costIn all that men hold dear.What answer from the North?One Law, one Land, one Throne.If England drive us forthWe shall not fall alone.THE COVENANT1914We thought we ranked above the chance of ill.Others might fall, not we, for we were wise—Merchants in freedom. So, of our free-willWe let our servants drug our strength with lies.The pleasure and the poison had its wayOn us as on the meanest, till we learnedThat he who lies will steal, who steals will slay.Neither God's judgment nor man's heart was turned.Yet there remains His Mercy—to be soughtThrough wrath and peril till we cleanse the wrongBy that last right which our forefathers claimedWhen their Law failed them and its stewards were bought.This is our cause. God help us, and make strongOur wills to meet Him later, unashamed!FRANCE1913Broke to every known mischance, lifted over allBy the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul;Furious in luxury, merciless in toil,Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil;Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind,First to follow Truth and last to leave old Truths behind—France, beloved of every soul that loves its fellow-kind!Ere our birth (rememberest thou?) side by side we layFretting in the womb of Rome to begin our fray.Ere men knew our tongues apart, our one task was known—Each must mould the other's fate as he wrought his ownTo this end we stirred mankind till all Earth was ours,Till our world-end strifes begat wayside thrones and powers—Puppets that we made or broke to bar the other's path—Necessary, outpost folk, hirelings of our wrathTo this end we stormed the seas, tack for tack, and burstThrough the doorways of new worlds, doubtful which was first,Hand on hilt (rememberest thou?) ready for the blow—Sure, whatever else we met, we should meet our foe.Spurred or balked at every stride by the other's strength,So we rode the ages down and every ocean's length!Where did you refrain from us or we refrain from you?Ask the wave that has not watched war between us two!Others held us for a while, but with weaker charms,These we quitted at the call for each other's arms.Eager toward the known delight, equally we strove—Each the other's mystery, terror, need, and loveTo each other's open court with our proofs we came.Where could we find honour else, or men to test our claim?From each other's throat we wrenched—valour's last reward—That extorted word of praise gasped 'twixt lunge and guard.In each other's cup we poured mingled blood and tears,Brutal joys, unmeasured hopes, intolerable fears—All that soiled or salted life for a thousand years.Proved beyond the need of proof, matched in every clime,O companion, we have lived greatly through all time!Yoked in knowledge and remorse, now we come to rest,Laughing at old villainies that Time has turned to jest,Pardoning old necessities no pardon can efface—That undying sin we shared in Rouen marketplace.Now we watch the new years shape, wondering if they holdFiercer lightnings in their heart than we launched of old.Now we hear new voices rise, question, boast or gird,As we raged (rememberest thou?) when our crowds were stirred,Now we count new keels afloat, and new hosts on land,Massed like ours (rememberest thou?) when our strokes were planned.We were schooled for dear life's sake, to know each other's bladeWhat can blood and iron make more than we have made?We have learned by keenest use to know each other's mind.What shall blood and iron loose that we cannot bind?We who swept each other's coast, sacked each other's home,Since the sword of Brennus clashed on the scales at Rome,Listen, count and close again, wheeling girth to girth,In the linked and steadfast guard set for peace on earth!Broke to every known mischance, lifted over allBy the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul;Furious in luxury, merciless in toil,Terrible with strength renewed from a tireless soil;Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind,First to face the Truth and last to leave old Truths behind—France, beloved of every soul that loves or serves its kind!'FOR ALL WE HAVE AND ARE'1914.For all we have and are,For all our children's fate,Stand up and take the war,The Hun is at the gate!Our world has passed away,In wantonness o'erthrown.There is nothing left to-dayBut steel and fire and stone!Though all we knew depart,The old Commandments stand:—'In courage keep your heart,In strength lift up your hand.'Once more we hear the wordThat sickened earth of old:—'No law except the SwordUnsheathed and uncontrolled.'Once more it knits mankind,Once more the nations goTo meet and break and bindA crazed and driven foe.Comfort, content, delight,The ages' slow-bought gain,They shrivelled in a night.Only ourselves remainTo face the naked daysIn silent fortitude,Through perils and dismaysRenewed and re-renewed.Though all we made depart,The old Commandments stand;—'In patience keep your heart,In strength lift up your hand.'No easy hope or liesShall bring us to our goal,But iron sacrificeOf body, will, and soul.There is but one task for all—One life for each to giveWho stands if Freedom fall?Who dies if England live?A SONG IN STORMBe well assured that on our sideThe abiding oceans fight,Though headlong wind and heaping tideMake us their sport to-night.By force of weather not of warIn jeopardy we steer,Then welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it shall appear,How in all time of our distress,And our deliverance too,The game is more than the player of the game,And the ship is more than the crew.Out of the mist into the mirkThe glimmering combers roll.Almost these mindless waters workAs though they had a soul—Almost as though they leagued to whelmOur flag beneath their greenThen welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it shall be seen, etc.Be well assured, though wave and windHave weightier blows in store,That we who keep the watch assignedMust stand to it the more;And as our streaming bows rebukeEach billow's baulked career,Sing, welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it is made clear, etc.No matter though our deck be sweptAnd masts and timber crack—We can make good all loss exceptThe loss of turning back.So, 'twixt these Devils and our deepLet courteous trumpets sound,To welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it will be found, etc.Be well assured, though in our powerIs nothing left to giveBut chance and place to meet the hour,And leave to strive to live,Till these dissolve our Order holds,Our Service binds us here.Then welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it is made clear,How in all time of our distress,And in our triumph too,The game is more than the player of the game,And the ship is more than the crew!THE OUTLAWS1914
METHUEN AND CO. LTD.36 ESSEX STREET W.C.LONDON
First Published in 1919
Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower,Watching what had come upon mankind,Showed the Man the Glory and the Power,And bade him shape the Kingdom to his mind.'All things on Earth your will shall win you'('Twas so their counsel ran)'But the Kingdom—the Kingdom is within you,'Said the Man's own mind to the Man.For time, and some time—As it was in the bitter years before,So it shall be in the over-sweetened hour—That a man's mind is wont to tell him moreThan Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower.
Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower,Watching what had come upon mankind,Showed the Man the Glory and the Power,And bade him shape the Kingdom to his mind.'All things on Earth your will shall win you'('Twas so their counsel ran)'But the Kingdom—the Kingdom is within you,'Said the Man's own mind to the Man.For time, and some time—As it was in the bitter years before,So it shall be in the over-sweetened hour—That a man's mind is wont to tell him moreThan Seven Watchmen sitting in a tower.
1902
(When Germany proposed that England should help her in a naval demonstration to collect debts from Venezuela.)
The banked oars fell an hundred strong,And backed and threshed and ground,But bitter was the rowers' songAs they brought the war-boat round.They had no heart for the rally and roarThat makes the whale-bath smoke—When the great blades cleave and hold and leaveAs one on the racing stroke.They sang:—'What reckoning do you keep,And steer her by what star,If we come unscathed from the Southern deepTo be wrecked on a Baltic bar?'Last night you swore our voyage was done,But seaward still we go,And you tell us now of a secret vowYou have made with an open foe!'That we must lie off a lightless coastAnd haul and back and veer,At the will of the breed that have wronged us mostFor a year and a year and a year!'There was never a shame in ChristendieThey laid not to our door—And you say we must take the winter seaAnd sail with them once more?'Look South! The gale is scarce o'erpastThat stripped and laid us down,When we stood forth but they stood fastAnd prayed to see us drown'Our dead they mocked are scarcely cold,Our wounds are bleeding yet—And you tell us now that our strength is soldTo help them press for a debt'''Neath all the flags of all mankindThat use upon the seas,Was there no other fleet to findThat you strike hands with these?'Of evil times that men can chooseOn evil fate to fall,What brooding Judgment let you looseTo pick the worst of all?'In sight of peace—from the Narrow SeasO'er half the world to run—With a cheated crew, to league anewWith the Goth and the shameless Hun!'
The banked oars fell an hundred strong,And backed and threshed and ground,But bitter was the rowers' songAs they brought the war-boat round.
They had no heart for the rally and roarThat makes the whale-bath smoke—When the great blades cleave and hold and leaveAs one on the racing stroke.
They sang:—'What reckoning do you keep,And steer her by what star,If we come unscathed from the Southern deepTo be wrecked on a Baltic bar?
'Last night you swore our voyage was done,But seaward still we go,And you tell us now of a secret vowYou have made with an open foe!
'That we must lie off a lightless coastAnd haul and back and veer,At the will of the breed that have wronged us mostFor a year and a year and a year!
'There was never a shame in ChristendieThey laid not to our door—And you say we must take the winter seaAnd sail with them once more?
'Look South! The gale is scarce o'erpastThat stripped and laid us down,When we stood forth but they stood fastAnd prayed to see us drown
'Our dead they mocked are scarcely cold,Our wounds are bleeding yet—And you tell us now that our strength is soldTo help them press for a debt'
''Neath all the flags of all mankindThat use upon the seas,Was there no other fleet to findThat you strike hands with these?
'Of evil times that men can chooseOn evil fate to fall,What brooding Judgment let you looseTo pick the worst of all?
'In sight of peace—from the Narrow SeasO'er half the world to run—With a cheated crew, to league anewWith the Goth and the shameless Hun!'
[Written for the gathering of survivors of the Indian Mutiny, Albert Hall, 1907.]
To-day, across our fathers' graves,The astonished years revealThe remnant of that desperate hostWhich cleansed our East with steel.Hail and farewell! We greet you here,With tears that none will scorn—O Keepers of the House of old,Or ever we were born!One service more we dare to ask—Pray for us, heroes, pray,That when Fate lays on us our taskWe do not shame the Day!
To-day, across our fathers' graves,The astonished years revealThe remnant of that desperate hostWhich cleansed our East with steel.
Hail and farewell! We greet you here,With tears that none will scorn—O Keepers of the House of old,Or ever we were born!
One service more we dare to ask—Pray for us, heroes, pray,That when Fate lays on us our taskWe do not shame the Day!
JUNE 29, 1911
('On the re-assembling of Parliament after the Coronation, the Government have no intention of allowing their followers to vote according to their convictions on the Declaration of London, but insist on a strictly party vote'—Daily Papers.)
('On the re-assembling of Parliament after the Coronation, the Government have no intention of allowing their followers to vote according to their convictions on the Declaration of London, but insist on a strictly party vote'—Daily Papers.)
We were all one heart and one raceWhen the Abbey trumpets blew.For a moment's breathing-spaceWe had forgotten youNow you return to your honoured placePanting to shame us anew.We have walked with the Ages dead—With our Past alive and ablaze,And you bid us pawn our honour for bread;This day of all the days!And you cannot wait till our guests are sped,Or last week's wreath decays?The light is still in our eyesOf Faith and Gentlehood,Of Service and Sacrifice,And it does not match our mood,To turn so soon to your treacheriesThat starve our land of her food.Our ears still carry the soundOf our once Imperial seas,Exultant after our King was crowned,Beneath the sun and the breeze.It is too early to have them boundOr sold at your decrees.Wait till the memory goes,Wait till the visions fade,We may betray in time, God knows,But we would not have it said,When you make report to our scornful foes,That we kissed as we betrayed!
We were all one heart and one raceWhen the Abbey trumpets blew.For a moment's breathing-spaceWe had forgotten youNow you return to your honoured placePanting to shame us anew.
We have walked with the Ages dead—With our Past alive and ablaze,And you bid us pawn our honour for bread;This day of all the days!And you cannot wait till our guests are sped,Or last week's wreath decays?
The light is still in our eyesOf Faith and Gentlehood,Of Service and Sacrifice,And it does not match our mood,To turn so soon to your treacheriesThat starve our land of her food.
Our ears still carry the soundOf our once Imperial seas,Exultant after our King was crowned,Beneath the sun and the breeze.It is too early to have them boundOr sold at your decrees.
Wait till the memory goes,Wait till the visions fade,We may betray in time, God knows,But we would not have it said,When you make report to our scornful foes,That we kissed as we betrayed!
1912
('Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.'—Isaiah lix 6)
('Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.'—Isaiah lix 6)
The dark eleventh hourDraws on and sees us soldTo every evil powerWe fought against of old.Rebellion, rapine, hate,Oppression, wrong and greedAre loosed to rule our fate,By England's act and deed.The Faith in which we stand,The laws we made and guard,Our honour, lives, and landAre given for rewardTo Murder done by night,To Treason taught by day,To folly, sloth, and spite,And we are thrust away.The blood our fathers spilt,Our love, our toils, our pains,Are counted us for guilt,And only bind our chains.Before an Empire's eyesThe traitor claims his price.What need of further lies?We are the sacrifice.We asked no more than leaveTo reap where we had sown,Through good and ill to cleaveTo our own flag and throne.Now England's shot and steelBeneath that flag must showHow loyal hearts should kneelTo England's oldest foe.We know the war preparedOn every peaceful home,We know the hells declaredFor such as serve not Rome—The terror, threats, and dreadIn market, hearth, and field—We know, when all is said,We perish if we yield.Believe, we dare not boast,Believe, we do not fear—We stand to pay the costIn all that men hold dear.What answer from the North?One Law, one Land, one Throne.If England drive us forthWe shall not fall alone.
The dark eleventh hourDraws on and sees us soldTo every evil powerWe fought against of old.Rebellion, rapine, hate,Oppression, wrong and greedAre loosed to rule our fate,By England's act and deed.
The Faith in which we stand,The laws we made and guard,Our honour, lives, and landAre given for rewardTo Murder done by night,To Treason taught by day,To folly, sloth, and spite,And we are thrust away.
The blood our fathers spilt,Our love, our toils, our pains,Are counted us for guilt,And only bind our chains.Before an Empire's eyesThe traitor claims his price.What need of further lies?We are the sacrifice.
We asked no more than leaveTo reap where we had sown,Through good and ill to cleaveTo our own flag and throne.Now England's shot and steelBeneath that flag must showHow loyal hearts should kneelTo England's oldest foe.
We know the war preparedOn every peaceful home,We know the hells declaredFor such as serve not Rome—The terror, threats, and dreadIn market, hearth, and field—We know, when all is said,We perish if we yield.
Believe, we dare not boast,Believe, we do not fear—We stand to pay the costIn all that men hold dear.What answer from the North?One Law, one Land, one Throne.If England drive us forthWe shall not fall alone.
1914
We thought we ranked above the chance of ill.Others might fall, not we, for we were wise—Merchants in freedom. So, of our free-willWe let our servants drug our strength with lies.The pleasure and the poison had its wayOn us as on the meanest, till we learnedThat he who lies will steal, who steals will slay.Neither God's judgment nor man's heart was turned.Yet there remains His Mercy—to be soughtThrough wrath and peril till we cleanse the wrongBy that last right which our forefathers claimedWhen their Law failed them and its stewards were bought.This is our cause. God help us, and make strongOur wills to meet Him later, unashamed!
We thought we ranked above the chance of ill.Others might fall, not we, for we were wise—Merchants in freedom. So, of our free-willWe let our servants drug our strength with lies.The pleasure and the poison had its wayOn us as on the meanest, till we learnedThat he who lies will steal, who steals will slay.Neither God's judgment nor man's heart was turned.
Yet there remains His Mercy—to be soughtThrough wrath and peril till we cleanse the wrongBy that last right which our forefathers claimedWhen their Law failed them and its stewards were bought.This is our cause. God help us, and make strongOur wills to meet Him later, unashamed!
1913
Broke to every known mischance, lifted over allBy the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul;Furious in luxury, merciless in toil,Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil;Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind,First to follow Truth and last to leave old Truths behind—France, beloved of every soul that loves its fellow-kind!Ere our birth (rememberest thou?) side by side we layFretting in the womb of Rome to begin our fray.Ere men knew our tongues apart, our one task was known—Each must mould the other's fate as he wrought his ownTo this end we stirred mankind till all Earth was ours,Till our world-end strifes begat wayside thrones and powers—Puppets that we made or broke to bar the other's path—Necessary, outpost folk, hirelings of our wrathTo this end we stormed the seas, tack for tack, and burstThrough the doorways of new worlds, doubtful which was first,Hand on hilt (rememberest thou?) ready for the blow—Sure, whatever else we met, we should meet our foe.Spurred or balked at every stride by the other's strength,So we rode the ages down and every ocean's length!Where did you refrain from us or we refrain from you?Ask the wave that has not watched war between us two!Others held us for a while, but with weaker charms,These we quitted at the call for each other's arms.Eager toward the known delight, equally we strove—Each the other's mystery, terror, need, and loveTo each other's open court with our proofs we came.Where could we find honour else, or men to test our claim?From each other's throat we wrenched—valour's last reward—That extorted word of praise gasped 'twixt lunge and guard.In each other's cup we poured mingled blood and tears,Brutal joys, unmeasured hopes, intolerable fears—All that soiled or salted life for a thousand years.Proved beyond the need of proof, matched in every clime,O companion, we have lived greatly through all time!Yoked in knowledge and remorse, now we come to rest,Laughing at old villainies that Time has turned to jest,Pardoning old necessities no pardon can efface—That undying sin we shared in Rouen marketplace.Now we watch the new years shape, wondering if they holdFiercer lightnings in their heart than we launched of old.Now we hear new voices rise, question, boast or gird,As we raged (rememberest thou?) when our crowds were stirred,Now we count new keels afloat, and new hosts on land,Massed like ours (rememberest thou?) when our strokes were planned.We were schooled for dear life's sake, to know each other's bladeWhat can blood and iron make more than we have made?We have learned by keenest use to know each other's mind.What shall blood and iron loose that we cannot bind?We who swept each other's coast, sacked each other's home,Since the sword of Brennus clashed on the scales at Rome,Listen, count and close again, wheeling girth to girth,In the linked and steadfast guard set for peace on earth!Broke to every known mischance, lifted over allBy the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul;Furious in luxury, merciless in toil,Terrible with strength renewed from a tireless soil;Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind,First to face the Truth and last to leave old Truths behind—France, beloved of every soul that loves or serves its kind!
Broke to every known mischance, lifted over allBy the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul;Furious in luxury, merciless in toil,Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil;Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind,First to follow Truth and last to leave old Truths behind—France, beloved of every soul that loves its fellow-kind!
Ere our birth (rememberest thou?) side by side we layFretting in the womb of Rome to begin our fray.Ere men knew our tongues apart, our one task was known—Each must mould the other's fate as he wrought his ownTo this end we stirred mankind till all Earth was ours,Till our world-end strifes begat wayside thrones and powers—Puppets that we made or broke to bar the other's path—Necessary, outpost folk, hirelings of our wrathTo this end we stormed the seas, tack for tack, and burstThrough the doorways of new worlds, doubtful which was first,Hand on hilt (rememberest thou?) ready for the blow—Sure, whatever else we met, we should meet our foe.Spurred or balked at every stride by the other's strength,So we rode the ages down and every ocean's length!
Where did you refrain from us or we refrain from you?Ask the wave that has not watched war between us two!Others held us for a while, but with weaker charms,These we quitted at the call for each other's arms.Eager toward the known delight, equally we strove—Each the other's mystery, terror, need, and loveTo each other's open court with our proofs we came.Where could we find honour else, or men to test our claim?From each other's throat we wrenched—valour's last reward—That extorted word of praise gasped 'twixt lunge and guard.In each other's cup we poured mingled blood and tears,Brutal joys, unmeasured hopes, intolerable fears—All that soiled or salted life for a thousand years.Proved beyond the need of proof, matched in every clime,O companion, we have lived greatly through all time!
Yoked in knowledge and remorse, now we come to rest,Laughing at old villainies that Time has turned to jest,Pardoning old necessities no pardon can efface—That undying sin we shared in Rouen marketplace.Now we watch the new years shape, wondering if they holdFiercer lightnings in their heart than we launched of old.Now we hear new voices rise, question, boast or gird,As we raged (rememberest thou?) when our crowds were stirred,Now we count new keels afloat, and new hosts on land,Massed like ours (rememberest thou?) when our strokes were planned.We were schooled for dear life's sake, to know each other's bladeWhat can blood and iron make more than we have made?We have learned by keenest use to know each other's mind.What shall blood and iron loose that we cannot bind?We who swept each other's coast, sacked each other's home,Since the sword of Brennus clashed on the scales at Rome,Listen, count and close again, wheeling girth to girth,In the linked and steadfast guard set for peace on earth!
Broke to every known mischance, lifted over allBy the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul;Furious in luxury, merciless in toil,Terrible with strength renewed from a tireless soil;Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man's mind,First to face the Truth and last to leave old Truths behind—France, beloved of every soul that loves or serves its kind!
1914.
For all we have and are,For all our children's fate,Stand up and take the war,The Hun is at the gate!Our world has passed away,In wantonness o'erthrown.There is nothing left to-dayBut steel and fire and stone!Though all we knew depart,The old Commandments stand:—'In courage keep your heart,In strength lift up your hand.'Once more we hear the wordThat sickened earth of old:—'No law except the SwordUnsheathed and uncontrolled.'Once more it knits mankind,Once more the nations goTo meet and break and bindA crazed and driven foe.Comfort, content, delight,The ages' slow-bought gain,They shrivelled in a night.Only ourselves remainTo face the naked daysIn silent fortitude,Through perils and dismaysRenewed and re-renewed.Though all we made depart,The old Commandments stand;—'In patience keep your heart,In strength lift up your hand.'No easy hope or liesShall bring us to our goal,But iron sacrificeOf body, will, and soul.There is but one task for all—One life for each to giveWho stands if Freedom fall?Who dies if England live?
For all we have and are,For all our children's fate,Stand up and take the war,The Hun is at the gate!Our world has passed away,In wantonness o'erthrown.There is nothing left to-dayBut steel and fire and stone!Though all we knew depart,The old Commandments stand:—'In courage keep your heart,In strength lift up your hand.'
Once more we hear the wordThat sickened earth of old:—'No law except the SwordUnsheathed and uncontrolled.'Once more it knits mankind,Once more the nations goTo meet and break and bindA crazed and driven foe.
Comfort, content, delight,The ages' slow-bought gain,They shrivelled in a night.Only ourselves remainTo face the naked daysIn silent fortitude,Through perils and dismaysRenewed and re-renewed.Though all we made depart,The old Commandments stand;—'In patience keep your heart,In strength lift up your hand.'
No easy hope or liesShall bring us to our goal,But iron sacrificeOf body, will, and soul.There is but one task for all—One life for each to giveWho stands if Freedom fall?Who dies if England live?
Be well assured that on our sideThe abiding oceans fight,Though headlong wind and heaping tideMake us their sport to-night.By force of weather not of warIn jeopardy we steer,Then welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it shall appear,How in all time of our distress,And our deliverance too,The game is more than the player of the game,And the ship is more than the crew.Out of the mist into the mirkThe glimmering combers roll.Almost these mindless waters workAs though they had a soul—Almost as though they leagued to whelmOur flag beneath their greenThen welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it shall be seen, etc.Be well assured, though wave and windHave weightier blows in store,That we who keep the watch assignedMust stand to it the more;And as our streaming bows rebukeEach billow's baulked career,Sing, welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it is made clear, etc.No matter though our deck be sweptAnd masts and timber crack—We can make good all loss exceptThe loss of turning back.So, 'twixt these Devils and our deepLet courteous trumpets sound,To welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it will be found, etc.Be well assured, though in our powerIs nothing left to giveBut chance and place to meet the hour,And leave to strive to live,Till these dissolve our Order holds,Our Service binds us here.Then welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it is made clear,How in all time of our distress,And in our triumph too,The game is more than the player of the game,And the ship is more than the crew!
Be well assured that on our sideThe abiding oceans fight,Though headlong wind and heaping tideMake us their sport to-night.By force of weather not of warIn jeopardy we steer,Then welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it shall appear,How in all time of our distress,And our deliverance too,The game is more than the player of the game,And the ship is more than the crew.
Out of the mist into the mirkThe glimmering combers roll.Almost these mindless waters workAs though they had a soul—Almost as though they leagued to whelmOur flag beneath their greenThen welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it shall be seen, etc.
Be well assured, though wave and windHave weightier blows in store,That we who keep the watch assignedMust stand to it the more;And as our streaming bows rebukeEach billow's baulked career,Sing, welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it is made clear, etc.
No matter though our deck be sweptAnd masts and timber crack—We can make good all loss exceptThe loss of turning back.So, 'twixt these Devils and our deepLet courteous trumpets sound,To welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it will be found, etc.
Be well assured, though in our powerIs nothing left to giveBut chance and place to meet the hour,And leave to strive to live,Till these dissolve our Order holds,Our Service binds us here.Then welcome Fate's discourtesyWhereby it is made clear,How in all time of our distress,And in our triumph too,The game is more than the player of the game,And the ship is more than the crew!
1914