| |
| NIGHT, and a bitter sky, and strange birds crying, | |
| The wan trees whisper and the winds make moan, | |
| Here where in ultimate peace their bones are lying | |
| In gaunt waste places that they made their own, | |
| Beyond the ploughed lands where the corn is sown. | 5 |
| |
| Death, and untrodden ways, and night before them, | |
| From sheltering homes and friendly hearths they came; | |
| Far from the mouldering dust of those that bore them | |
| They rest in silence now and know no fame, | |
| No proud stone speaks, no waters lip the name. | 10 |
| |
| Brave and undaunted hearts, eyes lit with laughter, | |
| Minds that outran the ancient doubts and fears, | |
| They blazed the track for legions following after, | |
| And bared new treasure to the hungry years, | |
| Till spent with strife they sank amongst the spears. | 15 |
| |
| Slow sinks the glowing flame and fades the ember, | |
| No bright star flickers and the woods are stark, | |
| But still our children’s children will remember | |
| The swift forerunners, bearers of the ark, | |
| Who lit the beacons in the uncharted dark. | 20 |
| |
| Rich towns shall flourish on the hills that hold them, | |
| Bright dreams shall quicken from their wandering dust, | |
| And till the end our reverent minds shall fold them | |
| In storied chambers free from moth and rust: | |
| The fealty pledged, the kingdom given in trust. | 25 |
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