Page:Ode on the stability of the British Empire, written on the occasion of the coronation of King Edward the Seventh.djvu/10

Around the British banner stand.
New Zealand, that would fain restore
The Golden Age, doth war deplore,
Yet sends her legions more and more
To Africa stricken strand.

From Africa come sounds of war;
The beating of the martial drum
Is heard; the bugle sounds afar;
But good will from confusion come;
The Boer will yet, with joyous pride,
Beneath the British flag abide,
And onward march with mighty stride,
When war's dread voice is dumb.

The British flag doth freely wave
In India, and doth millions there
From fell invasion's horrors save,
And sure protection to them bear.
Egyptian toilers love to see
The flag that gave them liberty;
A thousand islands, full of glee.
Their loyalty declare.

The mighty ocean doth attest
The boundless range of Britain's sphere
Of action; for, upon its breast.
Her flag doth everywhere appear.
As stars the sky, that flag the sea
Bedecks; the emblem of the free
It is; to all who liberty
Uphold, it is most dear.

Our country's present and its past
Are through the throne together bound;
No other bond was formed to last;
In ruins now upon the ground
Are lying castles, abbeys, walls,
Till scarce a mark their site recalls;
The self-same line in royal halls
A thousand years is found.

That line has late received within
Its ranks a queen, whose presence bright
The homage of all hearts doth win,