ALMIGHTY GOD! eternal source Of every arm we dare to wield, Be Thine the thanks, as Thine the force, On reeling deck or stricken field; The thunder of the battle hour Is but the whisper of Thy power. Thine is our wisdom, Thine our might; Oh, give us, more than strength and skill, The calmness born of sense of right, The steadfast heart, the quiet will To keep the awful tryst with death, To know Thee in the cannon's breath. By Thee was given the thought that bowed All hearts upon the victor deck, When, high above the battle-shroud, The white flag fluttered o'er the wreck, And Thine the hand that checked the cheer In that wild hour of death and fear! O Lord of love! be Thine the grace To teach, amid the wrath of war, Sweet pity for a humbled race, Some thought of those in lands afar Where sad-eyed women vainly yearn For them that never shall return. Great Master of earth's mighty school, Whose children are of every land, Inform with love our alien rule, And stay us with Thy warning hand If, tempted by imperial greed, We, in Thy watchful eyes, exceed; That in the days to come, O Lord, When we ourselves have passed away, And all are gone who drew the sword, The children of our breed may say, These were our sires, who, doubly great, Could strike, yet spare the fallen state. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HIS CAVALIER by ROBERT HERRICK THE GODS OF THE COPYBOOK HEADINGS by RUDYARD KIPLING IPHIGENEIA AND AGAMEMNON, FR. THE HELLENICS by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR SONNET: THE EVENING STAR by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW COMPARES THE TROUBLES WHICH HE HAS UNDERGONE, TO LABOURS OF HERCULES by PHILIP AYRES THE NEW PROSERPINE by MATHILDE BLIND THE BEGINNING by RUPERT BROOKE IN THE DARK by FRANCES LOUISA BUSHNELL OBSERVATIONS IN THE ART OF ENGLISH POESY: 10. TROCHAIC VERSE: THE SIXTH EPIGRAM by THOMAS CAMPION |