George Herbert Clarke, ed. (1873–1953). A Treasury of War Poetry. 1917.
Rudyard Kipling
For All we Have and Are
F
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 o’erthrown.
There is nothing left to-day
But steel and fire and stone.
The old commandments stand:
“In courage keep your heart,
In strength lift up your hand.”
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.
The ages’ slow-bought gain—
They shrivelled in a night,
Only ourselves remain
To face the naked days
In silent fortitude,
Through perils and dismays
Renewed and re-renewed.
The old commandments stand:
“In patience keep your heart,
In strength lift up your hand.”
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?