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1913
BROKE to every known mischance, lifted over all | |
| By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul; | |
| Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, | |
| Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil; | |
| Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man’s mind, | 5 |
| First to follow Truth and last to leave old Truths behind— | |
| France, beloved of every soul that loves its fellow-kind! | |
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| Ere our birth (rememberest thou?) side by side we lay | |
| Fretting in the womb of Rome to begin our fray. | |
| Ere men knew our tongues apart, our one task was known— | 10 |
| Each to mould the other’s fate as he wrought his own. | |
| To this end we stirred mankind till all Earth was ours, | |
| Till our world-end strifes begat wayside Thrones and Powers— | |
| Puppets that we made or broke to bar the other’s path— | |
| Necessary, outpost-folk, hirelings of our wrath. | 15 |
| To this end we stormed the seas, tack for tack, and burst | |
| Through the doorways of new worlds, doubtful which was first, | |
| Hand on hilt (rememberest thou?) ready for the blow— | |
| Sure, whatever else we met, we should meet our foe. | |
| Spurred or balked at every stride by the other’s strength, | 20 |
| So we rode the ages down and every ocean’s length! | |
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| Where did you refrain from us or we refrain from you? | |
| Ask the wave that has not watched war between us two! | |
| Others held us for a while, but with weaker charms, | |
| These we quitted at the call for each other’s arms. | 25 |
| Eager toward the known delight, equally we strove— | |
| Each the other’s mystery, terror, need, and love. | |
| To each other’s open court with our proofs we came. | |
| Where could we find honour else, or men to test our claim? | |
| From each other’s throat we wrenched—valour’s last reward— | 30 |
| That extorted word of praise gasped ’twixt lunge and guard. | |
| In each other’s cup we poured mingled blood and tears, | |
| Brutal joys, unmeasured hopes, intolerable fears— | |
| All that soiled or salted life for a thousand years. | |
| Proved beyond the need of proof, matched in every clime, | 35 |
| O Companion, we have lived greatly through all time! | |
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| Yoked in knowledge and remorse, now we come to rest, | |
| Laughing at old villainies that Time has turned to jest; | |
| Pardoning old necessities no pardon can efface— | |
| That undying sin we shared in Rouen market-place. | 40 |
| Now we watch the new years shape, wondering if they hold | |
| Fiercer lightnings in their heart than we launched of old. | |
| Now we hear new voices rise, question, boast or gird, | |
| As we raged (rememberest thou?) when our crowds were stirred. | |
| Now we count new keels afloat, and new hosts on land, | 45 |
| Massed like ours (rememberest thou?) when our strokes were planned. | |
| We were schooled for dear life’s sake, to know each other’s blade. | |
| What can Blood and Iron make more than we have made? | |
| We have learned by keenest use to know each other’s mind. | |
| What shall Blood and Iron loose that we cannot bind? | 50 |
| We who swept each other’s coast, sacked each other’s home, | |
| Since the sword of Brennus clashed on the scales at Rome | |
| Listen, count and close again, wheeling girth to girth, | |
| In the linked and steadfast guard set for peace on earth! | |
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| Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all | 55 |
| By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul; | |
| Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, | |
| Terrible with strength renewed from a tireless soil; | |
| Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of man’s mind, | |
| First to face the Truth and last to leave old Truths behind— | 60 |
| France, beloved of every soul that loves or serves its kind! | |
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