All we have of freedom
The Five Nations: The Old Issue
All we use or know
This our fathers bought for us,
Long and long ago.
I keep six honest serving-men
The Elephant’s Child
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are
What and why and when
And how and where and who.
God gave all men all earth to love,
Sussex
But since our hearts are small,
Ordained for each one spot should prove
Beloved over all;
…For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.
The Law for the Wolves
Over all good things certain,
The Old Issue: The Five Nations
This is sure indeed,
Suffer not the old King,
For we know the breed.
‘Ave you ‘eard o’ the Widow at Windsor
The Widow at Windsor
With a hairy old crown on ‘er ‘ead?
She ‘as ships on the foam–she ‘as millions at ‘ome,
An’ she pays us poor beggars in red.
Her plates are scarred by the sun, dear lass,
L’Envoi: There’s a Whisper down the Field
And her ropes are taut with the dew,
For we’re booming down on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,
We’re sagging south on the Long Trail, the trail that is always new.
Lord, Thou hast made this world below the shadow of a dream,
McAndrew’s Hymn
An’, taught by time, I tak’ it so — exceptin’ always steam,
From coupler-flange to spindle-guide I see thy Hand,
O God– Predestination in the stride o’ yon connectin’-rod.
And the talk slid north, and the talk slid south
Ballad of the King’s Jest
With the sliding puffs from the hookah-mouth;
Four things greater than all things are
Women and Horses and Power and War
But till we are built like angels,
Imperial Rescript
With hammer and chisel and pen,
We will work for our self
And a woman, for ever and ever, Amen.
And the Sons of Mary smile and are blessed
The Sons of Mary
They know the angels are on their side:
They know in them is the Grace confessed,
And for them are the Mercies multiplied;
They sit at the Feet, they hear the Word,
They see how truly the Promise runs;
They have cast their burden upon the Lord, and
The Lord He lays it on Martha’s sons!
For the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
Three And — An Extra
A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.
Take my word for it, the silliest woman can manage a clever man;
But it takes a very clever woman to manage a fool.
I never made a mistake in my life;
At least, never one that I couldn’t explain away afterwards
And a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke.
The Betrothed
Never praise a sister to a sister, in the hope of your compliments reaching the proper ears, and so preparing the way for you later on. Sisters are women first, and sisters afterwards; and you will find that you do yourself harm.
False Dawn
Teach us delight in simple things, and mirth that has no bitter springs.
The Children’s Song
Too much work and too much energy kill a man just as effectively as too much assorted vice or too much drink.
Thrown Away
Youth had been a habit of hers for so long, that she could not part with it.
Venus Annodomini
When ‘Omer smote ‘is bloomin’ lyre,
Barrack-Room Ballads
He’d ‘eard men sing by land an’ sea;
An’ what he thought ‘e might require,
‘E went an’ took–the same as me.
The weather door of the smoking-room had been left open to the North Atlantic fog, as the big liner rolled and lifted, whistling to warn the fishing-fleet.
Captains Courageous
If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Epitaphs of War 1914-1918