“For All we Have and Are”
For all we have and are, for all our children’s fate,
Stand up and meet the war; the Hun is at the gate!
Our world has passed away in wantonness overthrown.
There is nothing left to-day but steel and fire and stone.
Though all we knew depart, the old commandments stand:
“In courage keep your heart, in strength lift up your hand.”
Once more we hear the word that sickened earth of old:
“No law except the sword unsheathed and uncontrolled,”
Once more it knits mankind, once more the nations go
To meet and break and bind a crazed and driven foe.
Comfort, content, delight— the ages’ slow-bought gain—
They’ve shrivelled in a night; only ourselves remain
To face the naked days in silent fortitude,
Through perils and dismays renewed and re-renewed.
Though all we made depart, the old commandments stand:
“In patience keep your heart, in strength lift up your hand.”
No easy hopes or lies shall bring us to our goal,
But iron sacrifice of body, will, and soul
There is but one task for all— for each one life to give.
Who stands if freedom fall? Who dies if England live?
Rudyard Kipling
