Embarcation

(Southampton Docks: October, 1899)

   HERE, where Vespasian’s legions struck the sands,
   And Cerdic with his Saxons entered in,
   And Henry’s army leapt afloat to win
   Convincing triumphs over neighbour lands,

   Vaster battalions press for further strands,
   To argue in the self-same bloody mode
   Which this late age of thought, and pact, and code,
   Still fails to mend.—Now deckward tramp the bands,
   Yellow as autumn leaves, alive as spring;
   And as each host draws out upon the sea
   Beyond which lies the tragical To-be,
   None dubious of the cause, none murmuring,

   Wives, sisters, parents, wave white hands and smile,
   As if they knew not that they weep the while.

Curated by First Verse from the public domain