Produced by Al Haines [Frontispiece: T. A. Browne] THE BELGIAN MOTHER AND BALLADS OF BATTLE TIME By T. A. BROWNE SECOND EDITION TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED, AT ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE :: :: MCMXVII COPYRIGHT, CANADA, 1917 BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED Dedicated to The Great War Veterans living, and dead, by whose exalted patriotism and heroic sacrifice in war the British Empire was preserved CANADA TO THE VETERANS OF THE GREAT WAR As gallant knights, as valiant-souled crusaders, You come from quests of peril o'er the sea; From conflicts stern, against the brute invaders, With laurels nobly won, you come to me. In contest grim, the mightiest of the ages, My banner through the carnage you have borne; Your names are written large on Glory's pages, I greet you, gallant soldiers, battle-worn. Through all the years to be, I shall remember The deeds you wrought, since first you sailed away; Since flaming down through Belgium, that September, The Prussian hell-hounds, baying, sought Calais. There Ypres and St. Julien, shining glorious, Red Courcelette and Vimy's Ridge aglow, And many another unsung fight, victorious, Wherein you clove a pathway through the foe. You have returned with memories unfading, Of prodigies performed in Freedom's name, Of charging hosts and volley's enfilading, And roaring craters curtained with death's flame. Some come not back; in lands afar they're sleeping. Who dies for Freedom fills no nameless grave; Their memory enshrined all hearts are keeping, So sleep remembered, all the gallant brave. Yours is the place of honour in the nation; Who dares for Right the highest shall command; Who pours for Liberty his heart's libation Shall win the grateful tribute of my land. Contents The Belgian Mother The Burial of King Edward, The Peacemaker The Coronation of King George V The Greater Canada The Battle Call Give! Give! Give! The Battle of Langemarck "Somewhere in France" Lines to Greece Ireland Kismet The Crimson Year, Christmas, 1916 Grit and Tory "De Fightin' Fisherman" Monsieur Poilu "The Bells of Belgium" Lad of My Heart When Drinking to Erin Duty "A Wartime Greeting" The Aviators Hell's Acolyte Copper Johnny The Quest Eternal The Building of the Chateau The Spirit of Christmas The Chosen People The Waif A Toast Ballad of the Budget, Year 1909 "The Pipe" The Miracle of May In Summer Love's Miracle The Squaw-Man Heart's Desire The Awakening Eyes of the Heart Cupid's Arrow My April Maiden The Call of the Open The Loving Cup THE BELGIAN MOTHER THE BELGIAN MOTHER Hear me, O God, who reignest upon high, From blood-bespattered fields hear thou my cry! Hear Thou a Belgian mother's fierce appeal, Whose torn bosom, 'neath the Prussian heel, Crimson and breastless challenges Thy sky, Of Christ the merciful demanding why. Wherefore the murder of my valiant sons! Wherefore the ravage of my little ones? Hear me, O Father; Jesus, hear me pray, Shall there be reckoning, shall Prussia pay? Father, to whom I knelt these many years, Thou wilt give answer to a mother's tears; Give answer to the cry of her despair, If heav'n be not o'erthrown, if Thou art there! Helpless I stand amid the storm of hate, My children slain, my fields made desolate. I will not cease from urging till Thou give Some sign, some token, that Thy justice live. By daytime and by night-time I shall pray. For these foul crimes on mine, shall Prussia pay! For sack of cities, sacrilege of shrines, For trampled tombs, a thousand nameless crimes, That cry for vengeance unto Heaven's throne, Shall he not pay, shall Prussia not atone? The dying hands of children grip my heart; From vale and upland, and the thronging mart, There is no laughter where they used to play; They cry unmothered, starved, with faces gray. If this be not a hell 'neath devil's sway, For all my little ones, shall Prussia pay! O God of mine, Thy harvest moon still beams, Nor hides in horror from such ghastly scenes, And Thy great Sun I thought Thy hand might shade, And dim the light that gave such carnage aid. Red ravage rides across my piteous plain, Behold Namur, behold beloved Louvain! Temples of Wisdom, prostrate in the dust, Trampled and scarred to glut a despot's lust. Hast Thou no rod this crowned Ghoul to flay? For ruin of Beauty, Lord, shall Prussia pay! Out from the land that loved them, beggared flung, Sons from the loins of olden heroes sprung; They whom great Caesar chronicled in praise, Shalt Thou leave outcast, doom to evil days? Shall Belgium's sons, shall this beloved soil, Whose very mould is martial, be made spoil? Lord of the slain in olden battles, hear! Till all I love, till all I hold most dear, Till my young hero-king shall find his throne, Till Belgians shall again sing songs of home, I from amid the ruins, night and day, Shall cry to Thee, "O God, make Prussia pay!" THE BURIAL OF KING EDWARD, THE PEACE-MAKER All day the league long lines have onward marched; Mourn the sad millions round the silent bier, Where rests beneath the temple, nobly arched, The form a worldwide people held most dear. The sombre pageant darkens all the land. The seven Kings in mournful grandeur ride, Kings of the earth must bow to death's command; Happy the Prince who heeds nor builds on pride! Happy the land, that in such mournful hour Can through the tears of parting proudly say, As we, he wrought each instrument of power For good, and o'er his people's hearts held sway. Shaping his efforts ever toward this end, That e'en the alien learned to bless his name, Healing the wounds red war had made, a friend To arts of peace, that is his crowning fame. Peacemaker, rest among thy kingly sires; Peace was thy shrine, and never war's array, Nor glories reared on force were thy desires; Thy strength was given to shield, and not to slay. Dead King, thy noblest triumph here is made. Who claims such tribute from a mighty state Reigns on; a sceptred king, though in death laid, And dying lives, beloved, immortal, great. May, 1911. THE CORONATION OF KING GEORGE V AN ODE OF EMPIRE Summer with the sun conspiring spreads her tapestry of June, Flora, all her glories flaunting, floors thy pathway flower-strewn, Hedge and field and rose-crowned wayside blush in beauty all aflame, While around thee, radiant ranging, millions give thee Sire, acclaim. Strike O Bard! thy proudest Paen, singing with a soul on fire; Paint, O Master of the canvas! all that grandeur may inspire; But thy soaring inspirations broken-winged shall flutter down, Swooning in the purpling glory lighting this an Empire's crown. Proudly moves the purple pageant over mighty London's pave, Rank on rank of gorgeous colour, stately moving wave on wave, Rank on rank the massing millions roar a welcome that upsoars Like the ocean billows breaking stormy round thy Island shores. Festooned arches, brilliant bunting, scarlet seas white-capped with plumes, Tossing, surging, rythmic swaying to melodious marching tunes, King and prince and jewelled marquis, ermine robe and silken hose, Sweeping stately, thousand bannered, on and on the pageant goes. Onward to the culmination of the long day's fevered strain, To the happy culmination with its hope of joyful reign, To the solemn coronation 'neath Westminster's wondrous pile, Treasure house of Britain's glory, loveliest heirloom of her Isle. Sepulchre sublime and mossy; Brooder old what dreams are thine, Thou who blessed our monarch's forebears since the great Confessor's time, Thou who holds the dust of princes in thy motherly embrace, Who serene through years of tumult watched upgrow a mighty race. From thy walls, oh Temple olden, thou hast watched the long years through. Seen the forest fastness broken, seen thy sons the seas subdue, Seen the Saxon hosts embattled to the conquering Norman yield, And the hunchback king remorseless die on Bosworth's bloody field. Seen thy chivalry in squadrons fall in internecine strife, And the regal Stuart yielding on the block a royal life, Heard the conflict fierce of battle, heard the raging of old wars, Seen the victor lift the vanquished and in peace forget their scars. And by slow regeneration from the things that did degrade, Rise upon a new foundation a fair nation nobly made, In her hand the touch of freedom, in her soul the newer birth, Bent upon the nobler mission, Peace, good-will, to men of earth. Thus to nationhood and greatness did Britannia proudly rise, Upwards, onwards, ere extending unto wider, broader skies, Penetrating lands of darkness, luminous around the world, Mothering a hundred races, guarding 'neath her flag unfurled. Steadfast in her mighty mission, seeking for the greater good, Hampered often in her labour, often too misunderstood. Giving of her wealth and wisdom, giving birth to nations new, Giant sons who name her mother, mighty offspring to her true. They who sentinel the vastness of an empire's broad domain, Greater than the Macedonians, mightier than Rome or Spain, Never empire such as Britain's, never one with fewer stains, Far extended, many millioned, mantling mountains, seas, and plains. Sire, we thy sons salute thee from thy empire's utmost end; This galaxy, thy free nations, to thee heartfelt greetings send; May thy reign be long and fruitful 'neath the King of Kings above, Olden empires bound by bondage, thine is bound by chains of love. Sovereign companion of the watery main, Who chose the ocean as thy boyish bride, Who know her passion in the hurricane, And love her with a Briton's sea-born pride; Far continents and empires hast thou trod And saw thy standards in the sunlight stream, In every land beneath the dome of God, Ere thought of Empire entered in thy dream. Wise in the wisdom of the sea art thou To gauge the compass and control the helm; God give thee grace to guide an Empire now, Prince called to kingship o'er a mighty realm; For on the summit of eight hundred years Amid the menace of these days we stand, And crown thee King amid an Empire's cheers-- Lord of a Kingdom reaching land on land. Upon this day uplifted crowned art thou, Full orbed and sceptred in thy kingly state, The diadem of Empire on thy brow, Throned o'er a kingdom proud, surpassing great. Thine is the King, the Sceptre, and the Sword-- Symbols of power, thine, and thine alone; And thine to keep the compact of the Lord-- To guide thy people and protect thy throne. Lo, 'tis the awful moment! On thy head The ancient crown of Britain rests--'Tis done-- Above the tombs where sleep the kingly dead That reared a Kingdom and an Empire won. Glory on glories round thee blaze, and deep Within thy people's hearts thou art enthroned; Unfearful of the whirlwinds fierce that sweep O'er alien monarchs, banished and disowned. While splendour such as England seldom knew, Within a temple ancient and supreme, Marshals her grandeur, crimson, gold, and blue, In iridescent shadings opaline. Glory on glories 'round thee blaze and sweet Ambrosial incense rises to the sides, While prince and peer and people 'round thee meet, 'Neath galleries begemmed with Beauty's eyes. While rolls on high the organ's swelling notes, Thrilling aloft in jubilees of sound; While joyful from a thousand loyal throats-- "God Save the King"--in glad acclaims resound, Triumphant blare the bugles on the breeze, In crashing cannonades the guns reply-- "God Save the King"--It leaps a hundred seas, And million voiced is echoed to the skies! THE GREATER CANADA Called the great soul of the Westland, "Come unto me, ye who rule, They who would plan for my greatness needs must attend in my school. Vast are my dreams of the future, born in my domain afar, They who would labour to build me let them now follow my star." Into the East went the message, sweeping on clarion clear, Steady-toned, crisp and compelling, speaking that all men might hear, Telling of courage triumphant, of prodigies nobly performed, Of barrenness mantled in beauty, of nakedness clothed and adorned. And he who ruled in the temple laboured and wrought for the good Of the land that reared him to honour, hearkened and understood; And borne on the wings of the morning he to the West gave reply, "Soul of the Westland, I hearken, unto thy Kingdom go I." Then rose the West for his coming, pulsed the warm blood in her veins, Decked she her hillsides with beauty, matted with gold all her plains; Flung her broad banners in welcome, spread the fair fruits of her soil, Sent forth her offspring to greet him, children of sunlight and toil. Trooping they came--him acclaiming--over the gold-crested plain, Jewelled with blossoms, sweet scented, bright with the gleam of the grain, Manhood and womanhood greeting, giving a welcome full sweet, There 'neath the sunlight of heaven, there midst the ripening wheat. Into the West went the Seeker drawn by the Voice of the Soul, Vigilant into the vastness speeding from goal unto goal, Preaching the Gospel of Union, seeking the end that all creeds Might on the altar of freedom sacrifice give of fair deeds. Then where the slumbering mountains fling their white pinnacles high, Precipiced, avalanched, chasmed, challenging ever the sky, The Soul of the West met the seeker and led him unto the throne, Where vision-eyed and majestic she dreamed in her glory alone. Then spoke the Soul to the Seeker, "Far have you followed the quest, Out of the East I have called you unto my uttermost West; Out of the East you have issued, forth from the Old to the New, To gaze on the wonder accomplished, to judge of the things yet to do. "Long have I brooded and waited over my league vista'd lands, Waiting the slow evolution, nursing my wide scattered bands. Men of all lands and all nations sprung from the ends of the earth-- They came to me and I fed them, asking not station or birth. "Men from the steppes of the Russias, bearded and burdened and poor, Sons of the Plains of the Obi and deserts of Jeti Kenoor, Children of darkness and peril seeking the bounty I give, Craving the right but to labour, craving the boon but to live. "Sons of the Vede and the Danube, Wards of the Tara and Rhone, These have I nourished and nurtured, these have I loved as my own; Cheering them on when they wavered with visions of greatness to be, When cities would gladden my prairie and spires rear by the sea. "Now breaks the dawn of fulfilment, now through the mists see arise, Splendours thy dreams have recorded, sweet to the patriot's eyes. Lo, 'tis the vision of greatness, prophetic, soul-stirring, grand, All that I dreamed, Master Builder, all that you hoped for or planned. "Beaches that billow and beckon, pregnant with bounty and life, Vistas of life giving plenty, foreign to clamour and strife, Cities that spring as by magic, fair, full of promise, they mould, Rising in splendour and beauty, proud in their settings of gold. "Harbours o'erflowing with commerce where the proud galleons ride, Weighted and straining like racers waiting the turn of the tide, Legions of peaceful invaders, bearing no weapons that slay, Eager, expectant, and joyful, entering under my sway. "Behold an edifice building out of the wealth of the Earth By the Sons that I have nurtured, by men of different birth; Building in love and in labour by men who are undismayed By the storm and stress of seasons, undaunted and unafraid. "Behold an edifice rising over the land that God made, August, eternal, majestic, reared by the ploughshare and spade, Builded of granite and iron, of oak and gold and of steel, A temple where all may worship, a temple where all may kneel. "The granite, the hearts undaunted, the oak and the gold fair deeds; The steel and the iron, girders binding the different creeds, The floors are the throbbing heart beats of men who love my sod And the dome, the love of country and abiding faith in God." High beat the heart of the Seeker, deeply his being was stirred; "Soul of the Westland," he answered, "I came, I have seen, I have heard, While life shall beat in my bosom, while love shall throb in my breast, Labour will I for the Eastland, labour will I for the West, "That to the great consummation, building in honour and peace, The nation may rise full proportioned, growing in splendid increase, With East and West undivided, bearing her banners unfurled, A Nation exultant and godly, spreading its light on the world." THE BATTLE CALL E'en as of peace we sang, While yet the laughter rang, Burst the red storm. Past is the long prelude, Bloody and grim and nude Looms the dread form. Gone is the haunting fear, Duty alone stands clear, Ours to perform. Blow, British bugles, blow! O'er land and seas aflow, Call round the world, Over thy vales and crags, Under thy battle flags, Proudly unfurled, Till all thy children, all, Leap to thy martial call, For freedom hurled. From o'er the western sea, Mother, we come to thee-- Come o'er the foam. From east and south and north, Gladly we issue forth, Where e'er we roam. Courage, thou lion heart, Soon shall we do our part For King and throne. Fearless of death and flame, Forward in Freedom's name We shall advance. Until the menace dies, Until it stricken lies Under our lance. Though death be our repose, Live Shamrock, Thistle, Rose, Lillies of France! GIVE! GIVE! GIVE! AUGUST, 1914 Citizens, your kind attention: I desire here to mention We are sending thirty thousand of our bravest to the war. And they leave those to them nearest, All they love, all they hold dearest-- Mothers, wives, and little children who must be provided for. Then let's Give! Give! Give! That the Empire yet may live; That the flag which stands for Freedom may be still uplifted high. Everybody "loosen up," Let us fill the widow's cup-- 'Tis our patriotic duty to the men who fight and die. Give, then, without hesitation, Donate as befits your station, As befits a loyal nation that is ever in the van. Open up your golden coffers, Be not niggardly in offers-- Give up freely every woman, give up gladly every man. Then let's Give! Give! Give! That the Empire yet may live; That the flag which stands for Freedom may be still uplifted high. Everybody "loosen up," Let us fill the orphan's cup-- 'Tis our patriotic duty to the men who fight and die. They have heard their brothers calling From the plains where men are falling, Where the hosts embattled grapple, where the deep-mouthed cannon roar. To those valleys battle-stricken, Where the dead and dying thicken-- They have gone to fight for Freedom, they have left our peaceful shore. Then let's Give! Give! Give! That the Empire yet may live; That the flag which stands for Freedom may be still uplifted high. Everybody "loosen up," Let us fill the mother's cup-- 'Tis a patriotic duty to the men who fight and die. Men who stay behind can lighten Soldier hearts, their pathway brighten; It is little that they ask us, they who offer up their lives. Till the cruel war is over Let us o'er their loved ones hover-- O'er the little children waiting, o'er the mothers and the wives. Then let's Give! Give! Give! That the Empire yet may live! That the flag which stands for Freedom may be still uplifted high. Everybody "loosen up," Let us fill the soldier's cup-- 'Tis our patriotic duty to the men who fight and die. THE BATTLE OF LANGEMARCK When men shall say who saved the day in years that are to be; When veterans back from war's grim track again abide with me; When Peace regains her throne and reigns, and silent are the guns, I'll think with pride of those who died and say They were my Sons. I sent them from their peaceful tasks, those strong young sons of mine; I saw them swinging down the street, I saw them stand in line. My unbronzed of the counting-house, my sun-tanned from the farms, I sent them forth, sons of the North, my gallant men-at-arms. With summer's fading rose they went, I well recall the day; The gold was on the maple leaf, the birds were on the spray, And through the long white wintertime I waited for the spring For word to tell me how they served their country and their King. And then I heard the tolling bells and saw the flags half-mast. Why should I weep in springtime with the long, white winter past? And why are all the people stirred and what is it they say? My boys have dared, have fought and shared the glory of the fray. Across the sea, afar from me, they've met the dreaded Huns At Langemarck, in Flanders, my gallant northern sons. Near Ypres, in the lowlands, three thousand miles away, Across the wave, my children brave, have died--but saved the day. In grim array that April day, entrenched the Allies lay, To bar the path of Prussian wrath that fumed to reach Calais; And Ypres town, half battered down, they'd sought with longing eyes, For they had sworn that very morn to take it as a prize. And breathing there the battle air beneath the warm sunshine From Peschendelle to Policapelle, Canadians held the line; Then, sudden as the avalanche that rips the mountain side, The battle broke, and through the smoke they met the German tide. They watched the fume-filled cloud-bank rise and spread its stifling rack; They saw the Belgian veterans and gallant French fall back; They heard them cry, they saw them fly as men by fiends pursued; They heard the shout, they saw the rout before that cloud, hell-brewed. In such a plight, as veterans might have blanched before and failed, They stood uncowed with spirits proud and hearts that never quailed. Surprised, amazed, a moment dazed, in that tremendous hour, Like living rocks they met the shocks of mad Germanic power. They saw the wide breach wider grow, when men in terror fled; They saw the eager foe leap on o'er the dying and the dead; And by that foe and through that gap they saw an Empire fall; Then, in the breach, to front the foe, they threw their living wall. They threw their living breasts between to stem the German tide, My volunteers of Canada--they fought as vet'rans tried. They fought the boast of Wilhelm's host; they met them hand to hand, My young men of the counting-house, my ploughboys from the land. They came from ranches of the West, where plain and mountain call, From down east way, by Fundy's Bay, from Don and Montreal; Their feet had known the sea-walled street, where ocean mists hang gray, And one to four, though stricken sore, they kept the foe at bay. The air rained death by bomb and dart, the earth belched death below By shining blade and hand grenade and death by poison slow. Three days of hell, with shot and shell, they fought 'neath moon and sun; The Belgian plain was strewn with slain, Canadian and Hun. Ye troubadours--who sing of wars and brave deeds handed down, When you will sing how for the King they fought near Ypres town, Tell how they fought and nobly wrought like Paladins of old; Tell how my sons retook the guns and won their spurs of gold. And you will tell how Birchall fell as calm as on parade, How on they bore amid the roar in that wild charge they made, Where Julien's wood in moonlight stood when midnight met the morn. Tell how they died, my brave, my pride, on that field battle torn. They went not forth for gain or gold, 'twas not for such they died. They fought for right 'gainst armed might that covenants defied. Pure was their quest, to serve the best, their banner they unfurled For that high plan, the rights of man, the freedom of the world. The feet that press'd my ample breast, the eyes that loved my pines, Will know no more my welcome shore, but still their glory shines. Sing, troubadour, let thy song soar, sing with a voice divine Of how they saved the day and braved the despot of the Rhine. "SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE" Oh, everywhere the women wait for men "somewhere in France"; They wait the postman's passing step, they watch with eager glance; They watch and wait to know their fate, with anxious hearts in pain, The seas are wide and, woe betide, they may not come again. Oh, postman on your daily round, what message do you bring From them who fight in foreign lands for country and for king? And is it glad or is it sad, that missive's written page, Postmarked from France where men advance and frightful battles rage? "Somewhere in France" in nowhere land, there is no mark at all To tell them where their dear ones fight or where their loved ones fall; But this must be in war, you see, and so they bravely wait, Some mother in her quiet room, some sweetheart by the gate. They may not know the bitter truth, they have enough to bear, And well it is they may not know the things that happen there. God keep the brave across the wave who fight for more than lives, And bless them, too, the women true, the sweethearts, mothers, wives. And yet we know their sacrifice, and know they'd gladly share The wounds and pain of those who fight their battles over there. 'Tis theirs to bear the secret care more deadly than the blow, The nameless pain and heavy chains that only women know. They may not with their loved ones march with brave and buoyant tread, They may not close their dying eyes, nor weep above their dead. 'Tis theirs to give and wait and live, 'tis theirs to love and bear The cross for those whose life-blood flows afar in France,--Somewhere. And love is such a wondrous thing that when its sacred flame Burns in a woman's heart, she learns what language may not name. It pales all blooms, it light illumes, the angel's wing outgilds, And makes the sod a court of God, and earth to heaven builds. Touch with such flame the hearts, O God! of waiting women here, And may its light leap o'er the land and gleam in every tear That women shed for lovers dead, by war's unholy hands, And bring surcease of pain, and peace to this and all the lands. LINES TO GREECE Hellas to Eastward flames the war apace, Along the hills of Macedon and Thrace. Time marches onward, hand in hand with Fate. Awake, awake, ere yet it be too late. Hellas, arise; Thou wert not wont to lie Prone, while the conflict light'ned in thy sky. Land of the Muse, if memory thee inspires, Wake, and with freedom strike as did thy sires. The monuments that mount thy marble peaks, Surely from these some voice heroic speaks. Thy place is in the vanguard of the free, And comrade of the Turk thou canst not be. Around thee, Greece, the tide of battle swells From Serbia southward to the Dardanelles. While from the Rhine the Siren thee beguiles, Brooding meanwhile enslavement of thine isles. The Bulgar thunders on thy hilly flanks, The Turk, Hun-bought, arrays his crimsoned ranks, And fresh from slaughter where Armenia cowers, Lifts praise to Allah as on thee he lowers. Joyous the memory of thy ancient power, Golden thy lyrics and thy martial dower, Proud was thy form when Greatness thee attired, When Homer sang and Phidias inspired. Hast thou forgotten one of Saxon strain? Canst thou remember Byron and refrain? His was the voice that waked the God in thee, And his the race that wrought to make thee free. Remember still how wise Ulysses chose, When from the deep the dulcet chant arose, Now be thy soul, O Greece, with wisdom strong! Reject not Orpheus for the Siren's song. Where chooseth Greece, while moves the dark intrigue, Where Progress beckons or where despots league? Each hour supine promotes oppression's goal, Betrays mankind, and tarnishes thy soul. IRELAND Harp of my country, I tune thee with gladness, Now thy wild song all my being o'erfills, Lifting my soul from its memories of sadness, Flooding with joy as it vibrates and thrills. Fame's on the wing and death's in the valleys, War's on the world and Freedom's the prize, Who, with head high, marches on with the Allies, Ireland, 'tis she, with her glorified eyes. Guiding her sons where the onset is fiercest, Fearless of death, how she leads them along, And where she rides, her mighty lance piercest, As she sings the wild chant of the Celt's battle song. Rangers of Connaught and Fusileers famous, Irishmen all from the North to Dunloe, Paddy and Michael and Terry and Shamus, Oh, what a name they've made fighting the foe! Down in the Balkans, in France, or in Flanders, No matter where, sure 'tis ever the same, Whether as privates or Marshal Commanders, Ever on Ireland they've shed deathless fame. Song of the Allies, sure that's "Tipperary", Whose armies march to the lilt of that song. Who thrilled the world? sure 'twas Michael O'Leary! Irish,--the lad could to none else belong. Oh, the long wait, now the blest vindication, Ireland, asthore, smile again, 'tis the dawn; Lo--on thy banners, see, Ireland a Nation, The cloud has been lifted, the darkness is gone! KISMET IN MEMORY OF THE DEATH OF LORD KITCHENER The Sea has garnered what the Land would keep, The Orkneys' brine enshrouds him in its gloom. Unphrased, mysterious, he sank to sleep In ocean deeps that darken o'er his tomb. What message sealed his dead and sphinx-like lips Up from his great heart, yearning to be told, While strained in agony the stricken ship Amid that wilderness of waters cold? Methought while death's tubed menace sped the waves The Sea exultant cried from vengeful crests, "Him take I captive to my sombre caves, For my lost Nelson, whom the land invests; It prisons still my noblest sailor son, So from the Land I take its peerless one." He planned in continents and Empire hewed, Moulding from out the waste an ordered world, Striding a bronzed Colossus, grim and rude, O'er Afric veldt and Egypt's sands, storm-swirled, Pressing Imperial-purposed, to his goal; Before, his country's high and luminous star, He on her altar laid his splendid soul. Bequeathed in martyrdom of glorious war. Beside the Cyprus hills or Nubian sands, By Libya's stony, terraced, huge plateau, Within the trackless silence, "what commands!" Whispered the Sphinx, his ear alone to know. What portents shaped the wild sirocco's rage Where Memnon tunes across the plain at dawn? Saw he the vast armies of the west engage In strife stupendous, in those days agone, When by the Nile he conquered at Khartoum? Saw he unmoved the vision of his doom? With his high fame and liberty secure, He rests, his task gigantic, nobly done. Born for the ages, ever to endure, He would not pass were victory not won. Behold the prodigy he reared!--arrayed, The millions surging to his trumpet voice Proclaim the triumph that his genius laid. Be brave, my England; it is well, rejoice! Like Egypt's temples towering he stands Amid the crumbling nations, battle-strewn, Shadowing times, shifting war-duned sands, Prodigious, silent, sombre, and immune. THE CRIMSON YEAR CHRISTMAS, 1916 From Riga southward to the Horn, fierce beats the iron hail, Beneath the Pole Star and the Cross, war's Vampire rides the gale. Across earth's shaken palisades, the red sirocco blows From sand of Suez in the south to Yukon's northern snows. And who are these who sally forth--these million doomed to die, Where scarred between embattled hordes, the scalped hills bloody lie, Sons of the mothers of the world, each sworn to overwhelm Legions of men of many climes, from city, farm, and realm. Sons of the mothers of the Earth, who out of love were born, Go forth in majesty of health and come back maimed and torn. Caught in the whirlpool of the war, all raging, battle-swirled, Boiling and reeling, bloody-foamed, labours the frenzied world. Who dare cry peace where all is strife; Who bid the conflict cease? Who dares to kneel beside the crib which thrones the Prince of Peace? Behold! it is the Christmas time, the feast of Him divine; How shall we stand with stained hands, and worship at His shrine? From Verdun's hero-hallowed heights to Belgium's sea-swept dunes, The land with shell-ripped bosom lifts His temples, heaped in ruins. What gory harvests here are reaped, of human flesh and bone, Christ, in thy Christmas time, forgive! Who shall for these atone? The Serbian hills lie bleak and bare, their people fled or slain; And through the Iron Gate the storm sweeps the Wallachian plain; And twice ten thousand thundering guns hurl forth their screaming shells, Till Europe seems a place accurst with all its flaming hells. There is no respite on the land--no safety on the deep, Where like a school of famished sharks the gaunt subs vigil keep; While overhead, like vultures huge, the pinioned airships fly, Wheeling their courses, seeking prey across the glowering sky. The sky where once His herald glowed, that ushered in His reign, The earth which hushed to hear of Peace in sweet, seraphic strain, The water which in olden days, storm-tossed, obeyed His will, The earth, the waters, and the sky--His--now men mould to kill. Like human gophers burrowing, whole armies sap and mine, And foul beneath the winds of God, proud humans rot as swine, And crimson with the blood of men the streams their courses run:-- God in this Christmas hour forgive! How shall we greet Thy Son? The rocket's glare shall greet His eyes, the tumult breaks His rest, And He, the King, shall sorrowed cling unto His mother's breast; The battle's smoke His star shall dim, the song the angels sing Shall pass unheard; thus men at war shall greet their Lord and King. What of the future and mankind while Christian, Christian slays? How shall we dream of better things amid these saddened days? There sounds, derisive, from the East, the laughing Pagan lands, "Go back, false prophets of the Christ, with blood upon your hands." Behind their Eastern barriers as tigers wait their prey, The little bead-eyed yellow men sit dreaming of their Day, When crippled Europe, on a crutch, shall cringe before their power, And, chained with broken sword, renounce two thousand years of dower. GRIT AND TORY The petty feuds of life depart when roll the Nation's drums, And common dangers shared remolds, and strength from union comes. We lived divided in our town, He up the street where I lived down, And when we met we used to frown, For we were Grit and Tory. But that was in the yesterdays; Then something came to change our ways; I'll tell for you the story. I used to think I hated him, I felt he hated me, Before the Call of Duty came and took us o'er the sea, For I was Grit unto the core, And he was Tory double-bore; In three campaigns we fought it o'er, In battles sometimes gory. For prejudice is rooted deep, And folk sometimes lose precious sleep, Because they're Grit and Tory. It used to be our loudest boast and proudest to relate, That we were always party men and always voted straight; And he who holds his cause as right, Is seldom too darn proud to fight, And so we fought with all our might Just like two common bruisers; But that was in the olden days, E'er something came to change our ways, And make us saner hoosiers. Full sudden came the King's appeal, a call for volunteers, That stirred the fighting blood of us who rowed for many years; Then Bill enlisted and I too, Since there was fighting still to do, Went o'er the ocean wide and blue, Convoyed by fighting cruisers; And as we sailed for sunny France I wondered which would get his chance And which would be the loser. When whole battalions march away and enter in the fray, The little strifes of little towns seem very far away, And all the hasty words that's said Seem petty where great armies tread, And fields are covered thick with dead, And stricken comrades dying; And oft I wondered what I'd say If Bill and I should meet some day, Among the wounded lying. Strange tricks that jade of fortune plays upon the field of strife, And so it came in war's great game I owed to Bill my life. We didn't meet till on the Somme-- In No-Man's Land I lay most gone, While over head the bright sun shone, And shrapnel shells were flying. Then suddenly I felt a thrill. I heard the voice of fighting Bill For his old foeman calling. I did my best to cry hello; it was too great a strain; But in a haze I saw his face and heard him call again. I knew him by the broken nose I gave him once when we'd had blows At one of our big country shows, When I gave him a mauling, And then he spied me and cried--Joe! I raised to greet him kind of slow, And then he caught me falling. Such things as this don't happen much, but they do happen though, And he's a different Bill to-day and I'm a different Joe. We're back again in that same town. He up the street where I live down, And when we meet, we _never_ frown, But we're still Grit and Tory. "DE FIGHTIN' FISHERMAN" Oh, de fish she's all glad in de river, De trout and de bass jomp wid glee, For de garcon dat scares all dere liver Is start o'er de ocean--sapre. De tackles all pack in de bunker, De rod he has change for a gun, Soon he'll troll in a trench for a junker Wit' a steel bullet fit for a Hun. For Joe he has tak' the King's shilling. He march to the Barriefield Camp, He show he is able and willing, He's de man of de most best stamp. So Joe when we hear dat you're goin' We know that it won't be for play, An' we lak to giv' somethin' for showin' We don't forget dem dats away. An' mebbe when you res' from de fightin', Wit' dis keepsake pipe in your jaws, A dream of the office may lighten, Or your islan' camp, up by de Chats.[1] Fly de flag on de ole _Foxy Quiller_, She be sad till you come back again, A medalled and famous man-killer, Who laid by de rod to hunt men. An' if in de fight, as in fishin', You handle de gun like de rod, I t'ink Kaiser Bill will be wishin' You never come over,--by God. An' jes' at dis time when de nation Sends her braves' sons over de sea, We give you our heart's salutation, Au revoir,--and God bless you, Bebe. Dere's plenty close shave in dis razor, An' de time piece gives radian' light, An' sometam you may capture de Kaiser If he tries to creep up in de night. [1] Chats, a waterfall on the Ottawa, pronounced as Shaw. MONSIEUR POILU You'd say that he was plucky, If you saw him in a trench. It matters not how mucky You'd know that he was French. Monsieur Poilu, gay and eager in his tattered, war-stained coat, Sniping Germans as a pastime with the laughter in his throat. Here's looking at you, Poilu, dashing son of gallant France, You're a gentleman and soldier and you take a fighting chance. He's bearded and he's scrappy, And his cheeks, they ruddy glow; He can fight, and he is happy, When he's charging on the foe. You would think he was in Paris listening to some sweet refrain, Or dining with the _petite femmes_ along the river Seine, Instead of facing Prussian steel and charging through the fray. Then here's to you, gallant Poilu, with you're heart so light and gay. Comrade Poilu over there, Fighting to your latest breath, With a smile so debonair In the blazing face of death, You have won undying glory, to your country you've been true, And the whole wide world salutes you and drinks a toast to you. You're a reckless, laughing devil as D'Artagnan of romance, And you're fighting, fighting, fighting for beloved _La Belle France_. "THE BELLS OF BELGIUM" I heard the bells of Belgium sweetly ringing, Like angel tones celestial on the air. Within the fields the harvesters were singing, When plentitude and peace were there. I heard the bells of Belgium softly chiming, When o'er the peaceful vale uprose the moon; The maiden walked, her lover's arm entwining, Unthinking of his exile, or her doom. I heard the bells of Belgium sadly tolling, They sobbed across the vineyards and the dunes, The rack of war across the land was rolling, And ravagers had laid the land in ruins. An alien race a land of freemen goaded, And pitiless as proud, took up their reign, And ruffian stern, the heavy burden loaded, On hearts that rankled 'neath the bondsman's chain. I heard the Belgian bells prophetic ringing, And deep and calm their voices seemed to say: "Let faith and hope in every heart keep springing, For Belgium shall regain her own some day!" And joy again shall gladden tearful faces, And exiled feet again shall press her sod, And soft intoned within the sacred places, Shall lift the prayers of Belgians unto God. I heard the bells of Belgium wildly ringing, With madness of great gladness did they ring; They pealed of triumph, and a nation bringing Unto his own, its hero and its King. LAD OF MY HEART Lad of my Heart--for you I am lonely, And drear are the hills though they say they are green. 'Tis a sad lass I am with loving you only, Will you never come back to your Irish colleen? Lad of my Heart--that day I remember, When out of the town with the soldiers away, You marched to the war in the early September, And left me to fight, while I left you to pray. Lad of my Heart--do you hear my love calling? You that's been gone this many a day. Lad of my love--do you see my tears falling? Waiting for you in the dusk of the May. Lad of my Heart--I have your last letter, Ever I'll keep it held close in my breast; For the pain deep within it seems to make better, And the stain that's upon it my lips oft have pressed. Lad of my Heart--I still hear you speaking, "Molly, Aroon, shure now try to be brave," And fondly, with love, your lips mine were seeking, Lad of my Heart, Oh where is your grave? Somewhere in France--lad of mine, you are lying, And never again will we tryst on the Sod; But we'll meet in the dawn, where there's no more of sighing, Lad of my Heart,--for I know you're with God. WHEN DRINKING TO ERIN When drinking to Erin with laughter and story, Remember her soldiers the loyal and brave, Who on fields of France, 'mid a halo of glory, Went to death that the banner of Britain might wave. Remember the hearts that in Erin are broken, And remember the names that will live through the years, Then lift up the Shamrock, sweet, triple-leaved token, And drink to the war with its glory and tears. Drink to His Majesty, kingly and gracious, Drink to Earl Roberts, Erin's own pride; Drink to brave Kitchener, strong-willed, tenacious; Drink to her soldiers who battled and died. How quickly they marshalled when war clouds were breaking, To the call of the Empire they answered with cheers; Few, few were the moments they spent in leave-taking, Ere they sailed for the front, the brave Fusiliers. Through the valleys of death they marched with the others, True British hearts as their fathers before, English, Irish, and Scots, all heroes, all brothers, Their music of death the cannon's deep roar. They sleep 'neath a sod where no shamrocks are growing, Afar from Hibernia, their dear, beloved isle; But if you remember, perchance, there's no knowing, They may wake from their sleep for a moment and smile. And may the tale of their love and devotion Touch the heart lying deep in Britain's broad breast, And may happiness dawn o'er that isle of the ocean That gave to the Empire the sons she loved best. DUTY I did not hate the man I killed, That soldier tall with eye of blue. I might have spared him had I willed, I did what Duty bade me do. The Duty that was his and mine, The thing to which we both were sworn, To take the human life divine Of God, unto a woman born. To drain the body's coursing blood, To dark the shining eye's bright ray, To limp the form that proudly stood And make of it but lifeless clay. We had been days in battle grim, And foot by foot had nearer crept. Amid the carnage and the din Had eaten little, little slept. And then we charged; I saw the gleam Of bayonets in the bright sunshine. We charged with faces fierce and lean, I sought his life and he sought mine. I took his life, I saw him reel; I pierced his body through and through, And as I plucked away the steel, I met his eyes so wide and blue. Then passed the battle tide along. Like one gone mad I fought and slew; I had no thought of right or wrong, To fight and kill was all I knew. We swept the field, we won the day. Entrenched upon the plain I slept; Morn came and with it shadows gray, And something in my heart that wept. And if to think be not a crime For those who fight the fight of Kings, Upon that plain at dawning time I thought of sweeter, gentler things; Of home and vales of waving green And one who waited babe on knee; And all the cherished joys between The trenches and my love and me; Of all the loving hearts that yearn Through cheerless nights and pensive days; And all the tender eyes that burn With dreams, the hand of war waylays; Of those who feel the armed might, And bear its scars their breasts within, The meek with faces strangely white As her who'd wait in vain for him. In what old garden would she wait, His golden girl with eyes of brown; By what old fashioned trellised gate In some old street in some old town. No more to know the touch of hands, Nor tender light of his wide eyes, With all her maiden heart had planned, A vanished dream of Paradise. For I, on her, the thorny crown With hands ungentle deep had pressed, Her heart's fair garden trampled down, And crushed its roses in her breast. I did not hate the man I killed, But Duty hath her stern commands; I might have spared him had I willed, But one on high He understands. The morning broke, and then a lark High in the heavens poured his lay; I turned from phantoms of the dark To Duty and grim war's array. "A WARTIME GREETING" As towers the mountain o'er the valleys wide, So lifts the pillar of the patriot's pride; And 'neath the shadow of the Conflict stern, Still brightly may the Christmas hearth-fire burn. Our greatest and our humblest all are one. To each, one privilege, one gift is given: The love of Country--then from sire to son Preserve our heritage, as our sires have striven. The past is glorious: the future sure, If we but labour, and with love endure. Such joy as Christmas brings, I wish each one. Let's "carry on"--until the Victory's won. THE AVIATORS Theirs is the free unrutted tracts of air, The clime of cloudland and of boundless space; From grimy earth they soar to regions rare, And meet the blue eternal face to face-- Above the clouds; the earth, a swallowed ball. Lost in the gray abysses far below; Biding the storm above the whirlwinds thrall, The Aviators of the Allies go. Theirs is the flight of eagles, and as they, They swoop and drive their talons in the foe, Then wheeling, strike again their crippled prey, And send him crashing to
{'title': 'The Belgian Mother, and Ballads of Battle Time by Thaddeus A. Browne', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}