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ENGLAND: AN ODE.
All our past acclaims our future: Shakespeare's voice
and Nelson's hand,
Milton's faith and Wordsworth's trust in this our chosen
and chainless land,
Bear us witness: come the world against her, England
yet shall stand.
Earth and sea bear England witness if he lied who said
it; he
Whom the winds that ward her, waves that clasp, and
herb and flower and tree
Fed with English dews and sunbeams, hail as more than
man may be.
No man ever spake as he that bade our England be but
true,
Keep but faith with England fast and firm, and none
should bid her rue;
None may speak as he: but all may know the sign that
Shakespeare knew.
