A stone's throw out on either hand From that well-ordered road we tread, And all the world is wild and strange; Churel and ghoul and Djinn and sprite Shall bear us company to-night,...
When, foot to wheel and back to wind, The helmsman dare not look behind, But hears beyond his compass-light, The blind bow thunder through the night, And, like a harpstring ere it snaps,...
In the Neolithic Age savage warfare did I wage For food and fame and woolly horses' pelt. I was singer to my clan in that dim, red Dawn of Man, And I sang of all we fought and feared and felt....
The child of Mary Queen of Scots, A shifty mother's shiftless son, Bred up among intrigues and plots, Learned in all things, wise in none. Ungainly, babbling, wasteful, weak,...
Eyes aloft over dangerous places, The children follow where Psyche flies, And, in the sweat of their upturned faces, Slash with a net at the empty skies.
Veil them, cover them, wall them round, Blossom, and creeper, and weed, Let us forget the sight and the sound, The smell and the touch of the breed! Fat black ash by the altar-stone,...
'Less you want your toes trod of you'd better get back at once, For the bullocks are walking two by two, The byles are walking two by two, And the elephants bring the guns. Ho! Yuss!...
One moment past our bodies cast No shadow on the plain; Now clear and black they stride our track, And we run home again. In morning-hush, each rock and bush Stands hard, and high, and raw:...
For the sake of him who showed One wise Frog the Jungle-Road, Keep the Law the Man-Pack make For thy blind old Baloo's sake! Clean or tainted, hot or stale,...
It's forty in the shade to-day, the spouting eaves declare; The boulders nose above the drift, the southern slopes are bare; Hub-deep in slush Apollo's car swings north along the Zod,...
Such as in Ships and brittle Barks Into the Seas descend Shall learn how wholly on those Arks Our Victuals do depend. For, when a Man would bite or sup, Or buy him Goods or Gear,...
If wars were won by feasting, 0r victory by song, Or safety found in sleeping sound, How England would be strong! But honour and dominion Are not maintained so. They're only got by sword and shot,...
At times when under cover I 'ave said, To keep my spirits up an' raise a laugh, 'Earin 'im pass so busy over-'ead, Old Nickel-Neck, 'oo isn't on the Staff, "There's one above is greater than us all" ...
We're not so old in the Army List, But we're not so young at our trade, For we had the honour at Fontenoy Of meeting the Guards'Brigade. 'Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare, And Lee that led us then,...
No doubt but ye are the People-your throne is above the King's. Whoso speaks in your presence must say acceptable things: Bowing the head in worship, bending the knee in fear,...
Here is nothing new nor aught unproven," say the Trumpets, "Many feet have worn it and the road is old indeed. "It is the King, the King we schooled aforetime! "...