Poems: New and Old (Newbolt)/St. George's Day

by Henry Newbolt

For other versions of this work, see St George's Day (Newbolt).

St. George's Day

Ypres, 1915.

 

To fill the gap, to bear the brunt
With bayonet and with spade,
Four hundred to a four-mile front
Unbacked and undismayed—
What men are these, or what great race,
From what old shire or town,
That run with such goodwill to face
Death on a Flemish down?

Let be! they bind a broken line:
As men die, so die they.
Land of the free! their life was thine,
It is St. George's Day.

Yet say whose ardour bids them stand
At bay by yonder bank,
Where a boy's voice and boy's hand
Close up the quivering rank.
Who under those all-shattering skies
Plays out his captain's part
With the last darkness in his eyes
And Domum in his heart?

Let be, let be! in yonder line
All names are burned away.
Land of his love! the fame be thine,
It is St. George's Day.