Poems: New and Old (Newbolt)/Minora Sidera

by Henry Newbolt

Minora Sidera

(The Dictionary of National Biography)

 

Sitting at times over a hearth that burnsWith dull domestic glow,My thought, leaving the book, gratefully turnsTo you who planned it so.

Not of the great only you deigned to tell—The stars by which we steer—But lights out of the night that flashed, and fellTo-night again, are here.

Such as were those, dogs of an elder day,Who sacked the golden ports,And those later who dared grapple their preyBeneath the harbour forts:

Some with flag at the fore, sweeping the worldTo find an equal fight,And some who joined war to their trade, and hurledShips of the line in flight.

Whether their fame centuries long should ringThey cared not over-much,But cared greatly to serve God and the king,And keep the Nelson touch;

And fought to build Britain above the tideOf wars and windy fate;And passed content, leaving to us the prideOf lives obscurely great.