We, dull and dreamy, stand and blink,
Forgetting glory, strength and pride,
Half—listless watchers on the brink,
Half—ruined victims of the tide.
III
We question, answer, make defence,
We sneer, we scoff, we criticize,
We wail and moan our decadence,
Enquire, investigate, surmise;
We preach and prattle, peer and pry
And fit together two and two:
We ponder, argue, shout, swear, lie—
We will not, for we cannot, do.
Pale puny soldiers of the pen,
Absorbed in this your inky strife,
Act as of old, when men were men,
England herself and life yet life.
October 1912
47
