Poems: New and Old (Newbolt)/Sacramentum Supremum
Sacramentum Supremum
Ye that with me have fought and failed and foughtTo the last desperate trench of battle's crest,Not yet to sleep, not yet; our work is nought;On that last trench the fate of all may rest.Draw near, my friends; and let your thoughts be high;Great hearts are glad when it is time to give;Life is no life to him that dares not die,And death no death to him that dares to live.
Draw near together; none be last or first;We are no longer names, but one desire;With the same burning of the soul we thirst,And the same wine to-night shall quench our fire.Drink to our fathers who begot us men,To the dead voices that are never dumb;Then to the land of all our loves, and thenTo the long parting, and the age to come.