| William Blake (1757–1827). The Poetical Works. 1908. | | | | Poetical Sketches | | A War Song to Englishmen |
| | | PREPARE, prepare the iron helm of war, | |
| Bring forth the lots, cast in the spacious orb; | |
| Th’ Angel of Fate turns them with mighty hands, | |
| And casts them out upon the darken’d earth! | |
| Prepare, prepare! | 5 |
| |
| Prepare your hearts for Death’s cold hand! prepare | |
| Your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth; | |
| Prepare your arms for glorious victory; | |
| Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God! | |
| Prepare, prepare! | 10 |
| |
| Whose fatal scroll is that? Methinks ’tis mine! | |
| Why sinks my heart, why faltereth my tongue? | |
| Had I three lives, I’d die in such a cause, | |
| And rise, with ghosts, over the well-fought field. | |
| Prepare, prepare! | 15 |
| |
| The arrows of Almighty God are drawn! | |
| Angels of Death stand in the louring heavens! | |
| Thousands of souls must seek the realms of light, | |
| And walk together on the clouds of heaven! | |
| Prepare, prepare! | 20 |
| |
| Soldiers, prepare! Our cause is Heaven’s cause; | |
| Soldiers, prepare! Be worthy of our cause: | |
| Prepare to meet our fathers in the sky: | |
| Prepare, O troops, that are to fall to-day! | |
| Prepare, prepare! | 25 |
| |
| Alfred shall smile, and make his harp rejoice; | |
| The Norman William, and the learnèd Clerk, | |
| And Lion Heart, and black-brow’d Edward, with | |
| His loyal queen, shall rise, and welcome us! | |
| Prepare, prepare! | 30 | | | |
|
|
