Archibald Thomas Strong

Here you will find theLong PoemSonnets of the Empireof poet Archibald Thomas Strong

Sonnets of the Empire

Gloriana吗?年代英格兰来加速你的勇敢的水手,blithe and free, Fearing nor foeman?s hate, nor iron clime, Nor Lima?s flame, nor Plata?s fever-slime, So they might give thee far Cathay in fee; Yet swept thy poets o?er a vaster sea, ?Neath fairer gales to Indies more sublime, Questing along the golden shores of Rhyme For all the treasure of eternity. One will, one end, one pulse of deep desire, Drove Hudson through the ice to joy and death, Sped Drake to glory through the long South roll: And kindled Marlowe?s eager heart with fire, Set Spenser voyaging ?neath the spirit?s breath, And won the world for Shakespeare?s captain soul. Hawke GREAT sea dog, fighter in the great old way! What though thy ships were tinder, and the pest Rotted thy ruffian crews that need had prest, And all thy keels were clogged with foul decay, Yet through the roaring months thy squadron lay A watch-dog eager at the throat of Brest While all the ocean smote her from the West And all the tempests tore her in their play. Thy soul was of the whirlwind, and thy cry Still leaps from out the crash of guns and waves To hurl us headlong on the foeman?s van, As in the Bay of Death, ?mid breakers high And felon reefs whereo?er the Atlantic raves, Thy flagship foremost into glory ran. Nelson WHITE soul of England?s glory, sovereign star! Ne?er shall disaster beat her down, nor shame, While still she sees thee by the leaping flame That kindled o?er Aboukir, near and far, Or feels thee quivering through the onset?s jar That filled the North with fear of England?s name, Or trembles with the joy of all the fame That died and cast out death at Trafalgar. Thy name was lightning, and like lightning ay Thine onset shivered, far and swift and fell: Ever thy watchword holds us, and whene?er The fierce Dawn breaks, and far along the sky Roars the last battle, yet with us ?tis well? We keep the touch, thy hand and soul are there. Dawn at Liverpool THE SUNLIGHT laughs along the serried stone About whose feet the wastrel tide runs free; Light lie the shipmasts, fairy-like to see, Athwart the royal city?s splendour thrown; On runs the noble river, wide and lone, Like some great soul that presses to the sea Where life is rendered to eternity And eager thought hath rest in the Unknown. So sets thy tide, my country, to the deep Whose face is black with thunder near and far, And vexed with fleering gusts and tyrannous rain. Shall the cloud lift and give thee rest and sleep, Or wilt thou ?mid the surge and crash of war Shatter thy life against the invading main? Australia, 1902 GALLANT is Spring along thy laughing hills, With wattle?s loveliest scent and gleam of gold, When the good rain hath quickened all thy mould, And the hot musk thine air with incense fills. Sweet is the chime of all thy tinkling rills, And fair thy Summer?s glory to behold, And soft is life for thee, the sunny-souled, Far from the world and all its olden ills. Yet ?tis not calm that builds the hero breed, High hearts are tempered ?neath a stormy star, Through want and danger doth the soul increase, Stern rings the clarion voice of Angel Need To bid thee vanquish self, and gaze afar And save thy soul alive from Harlot Peace. Australia, 1905 CARELESS she lies along the Southern Main, The lovely maiden, wanton with the spell Of sun and vastness and the ocean swell: Northward the great gnomes watch her beauty, fain To snatch her wealth of gold and fleece and grain, And bend her being to their purpose fell: But she lies lazy, and the passing bell Of older glory stirs her sense in vain. Nor shall she wake and know her danger near Till some high heart and true, her fated lord, Shall kiss her lips, and all her will control, And fill her wayward heart with holy fear, And cross her forehead with his iron sword, And bring her strength, and armour, and a soul. Australia, 1914 THE NIGHT is thick with storm and driving cloud, Lurid at instants through the blackness break Quick gleams of war across the perilous lake From yonder isles that awe and magic shroud: Far in the northland smite Thor?s hammers loud On steel that warlocks for her spoilure make, Till lo! from sleep Australia starts awake And lifts the queenly head that sloth had bowed. Not yet her eyes are clear: throughout her brain Still swarm the antic creatures of her dream, The idiot jests, the sports that kill the soul, Yet shall not night lay hold on her again, For through the rack she spies th