The Muses, still with Freedom found, Shall to thy happy coast repair: Blest Isle! with matchless beauty crowned, Rule, Britannia, rule the waves, Britons never will be slaves. James Thomson [1700-1748] "YE MARINERS OF ENGLAND” YE Mariners of England That guard our native seas! Whose flag has braved, a thousand years, The battle and the breeze! Your glorious standard launch again To match another foe; And sweep through the deep, While the stormy winds do blow! While the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow, The spirits of your fathers Shall start from every wave!- Britannia needs no bulwarks, No towers along the steep; Her march is o'er the mountain-waves, Her home is on the deep. She quells the floods below, As they roar on the shore, When the stormy winds do blow! The meteor flag of England Shall yet terrific burn; Till danger's troubled night depart When the storm has ceased to blow! Thomas Campbell [1777-1844] "READY, AY, READY" OLD England's sons are English yet, Aflame with sword and song. So wield we still, gainsay who will, The sceptre of the sea. England, stand fast; let heart and hand be steady; Be thy first word thy last,-Ready, ay, ready! We've Raleighs still for Raleigh's part, We've Nelsons yet unknown; The pulses of the Lion Heart Beat on through Wellington. Hold, Britain, hold thy creed of old, Strong foe and steadfast friend, And, still unto thy motto true, Defy not, but defend. England, stand fast; let heart and hand be steady; Be thy first word thy last,-Ready, ay, ready! Men whispered that our arm was weak, And that our hearts no longer speak The clarion-note of old; But let the spear and sword draw near The sleeping lion's den, His island shore shall start once more To life with armèd men. England, stand fast; let heart and hand be steady; Herman Charles Merivale [1806-1874] "OF OLD SAT FREEDOM ON THE HEIGHTS" From "On a Mourner" Of old sat Freedom on the heights, There in her place she did rejoice, Then stepped she down through town and field To mingle with the human race, And part by part to men revealed The fullness of her face Grave mother of majestic works, Who, God-like, grasps the triple forks, Her open eyes desire the truth. The wisdom of a thousand years That her fair form may stand and shine, Make bright our days and light our dreams, Turning to scorn with lips divine The falsehood of extremes! Alfred Tennyson [1809-1892] AN ODE IN IMITATION OF ALCAUS WHAT Constitutes a State? Not high-raised battlement or labored mound, Thick wall or moated gate; Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned; Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride; Where low-browed baseness wafts perfume to pride. With powers as far above dull brutes endued In forest, brake, or den, As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude,— Men who their duties know, But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain; Prevent the long-aimed blow, And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain:These constitute a State; And sovereign Law, that State's collected will, O'er thrones and globes elate Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill. Smit by her sacred frown, The fiend, Dissension, like a vapor sinks; And e'en the all-dazzling Crown Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks. Such was this heaven-loved isle, Than Lesbos fairer and the Cretan shore! Shall Britons languish, and be men no more? Since all must life resign, Those sweet rewards which decorate the brave, 'Tis folly to decline, And steal inglorious to the silent grave, William Jones (1746-1794] ENGLAND, 1802 I O FRIEND! I know not which way I must look II Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; . Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, So didst thou travel on life's common way, In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart. |