The Spirit of England

I was in the arms of sailors
Who sweated and strained at wooden oars
Against the restless waves that sought
To wreck their ships on murderous shores.
I was there in Passchendaele
When English men faced German guns.
I have steeled the hearts and quelled the fears
Of all of England’s fighting sons.
In all the times when hope seemed lost,
When men were driven to despair,
They soldiered on, through mud and blood
And death, for I was there.

-Victor Van Brandt