Canada, and Other Poems/Union
For works with similar titles, see Union.
Union.
ABOVE the glamour of long-dead Romance
Attired in gold and dress of every hue,
The glitter was not all, for dead did strew
The war-torn fields of Italy and France.
Stern Valor raised the sword and broke the lance
By many an alien wall; and grasping threw
From dying hand its weapon in the dew
Of bloody strife. Yet wherefore not advance
Thus bold and strong in love, my comrades, here
On peaceful plains; and wherefore not unfold
The flag not drenched as yet with battle-stains
As proudly for its purity; and bear
The glorious front of union, though the gold
And blazonry of courts stir not our veins?
Attired in gold and dress of every hue,
The glitter was not all, for dead did strew
The war-torn fields of Italy and France.
Stern Valor raised the sword and broke the lance
By many an alien wall; and grasping threw
From dying hand its weapon in the dew
Of bloody strife. Yet wherefore not advance
Thus bold and strong in love, my comrades, here
On peaceful plains; and wherefore not unfold
The flag not drenched as yet with battle-stains
As proudly for its purity; and bear
The glorious front of union, though the gold
And blazonry of courts stir not our veins?