Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Verse: 1885–1918. 1922.
A BritishRoman Song
(A.D. 406)
M
And I, belike, shall never come,
To look on that so-holy spot—
The very Rome—
The equal work of Gods and Man,
City beneath whose oldest height—
The Race began!
Unshakeable, we pray, that clings,
To Rome’s thrice-hammered hardihood—
In arduous things.
Beat strongly, for thy life-blood runs,
Age after Age, the Empire round—
In us thy Sons
Loving and serving much, require
Thee—thee to guard ’gainst home-born ills,
The Imperial Fire!