Page:The Five Nations.djvu/31

 THE DESTROYERS

The strength of twice three thousand horse

That seek the single goal;

The line that holds the rending course,

The hate that swings the whole:

The stripped hulls, slinking through the gloom,

At gaze and gone again—

The Brides of Death that wait the groom—

The Choosers of the Slain!

Offshore where sea and skyline blend

In rain, the daylight dies;

The sullen, shouldering swells attend

Night and our sacrifice.

Adown the stricken capes no flare—

No mark on spit or bar,—

Girdled and desperate we dare

The blindfold game of war.

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