A treasury of war poetry, British and American poems of the world war, 1914-1919/The Fourth of July, 1776

by Maurice Hewlett

THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1776

WHEN England's king put English to the horn,^[1]
To England thus spake England over sea,
"In peace be friend, in war my enemy";
Then countering pride with pride, and lies with scorn,
Broke with the man whose ancestor^[2] had borne
A sharper pain for no more injury.
How otherwise should freemen deal and be,
With patience frayed and loyalty outworn?

No act of England's shone more generous gules,
Than that which sever'd once for all the strands
Which bound you English. You may search the lands
In vain, and vainly rummage in the schools
To find a deed more English, or a shame
On England with more honour to her name.

Maurice Hewlett

 

1. To "put to the horn" was to declare an outlawry.
2. Charles the First.