Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.
By George EdgarMontgomery1266 England
T
When that inviolate Mother wills it so:
Nations may rise and fall, and tyrants go
Upon their devious, darkened paths: alone
England preserves her people and her throne,
Her ancient freedom, her perpetual flow
Of broad and brightened life; time shall not show
This mighty Nation pitiful and prone.
It is the Saxon soul that speaks in her,
The stanchest soul that earth has ever wrought
To guide humanity in faith and light.
The shivering slave has been her worshipper,
And with defiant courage she has taught
Red Tyranny to cringe before the Right.