Page:Canadian poems of the great war.djvu/131

 Agnes Maule Machar What though the world must march through blood and [pain
 * To win the victory over sense and sin?

Still shall the Angels' Song our hearts sustain
 * Through all the thunder of the hateful strife,

Till, in God's peace, His love alone shall reign,
 * And Death itself be swallowed up in Life!

BATTLESHIPS on Britnas it but one year ago Ye got your midnight summons to the strife That sped you to the mighty seas, to curb the haughty foe,
 * To guard our Empire's honour-and her life? [lay,

Ye took your place whole-hearted; your course before you Your task to keep the Freedom of the Sea; [and stay, To the hearts of struggling nations ye stood for strength Never failing as the bulwark of the free. [and days,

Bravely have ye kept your tryst, through anxious months
 * Through storm and stress and struggle holding fast,

From torrid southern islands to the cold, grey northern seas,
 * Where the Teuton foe might cross your path at last. [tossed,

On quarter-deck or masthead, fog-bound or tempest-
 * When the mountain waves were dashing o'er the deck,

Unhasting and unresting, your brave sailors kept their post,
 * Or, fighting, went down singing with the wreck.

Through moonlight or through starlight your task is never done;
 * Never slacking is your constant watch and ward,

From the rosy dawn of morning till sinks the golden sun
 * 'Neath the mighty waste of waters that ye guard.

For you there's no Trafalgar to strike one fateful blow
 * For the flag that 'braves the battle and the breeze';

But ye keep undimmed the glory of Britain's island story,
 * And—by God's :grace—the Freedom of the Seas!