Themes and Variations/News by Cable
Themes and Variations.
NEWS BY CABLE.
‘What is the news from England?
Comes peace or war to-night?’
Eastward a dark cloud rises,
Westward a threatening light.
The danger-signal flashes,
The sailor shortens sail,
Our gallant ship of Empire
Is trembling to the gale.
Comes peace or war to-night?’
Eastward a dark cloud rises,
Westward a threatening light.
The danger-signal flashes,
The sailor shortens sail,
Our gallant ship of Empire
Is trembling to the gale.
‘But though the thunder mutters,
And sullen breakers form,
Our hearts are like the sea-gull
That dances in the storm!
Through burning noon, and midnight,
Through smoke and battle scars,
Through sun and fleeting shadow,
We are sailing to the stars!
And sullen breakers form,
Our hearts are like the sea-gull
That dances in the storm!
Through burning noon, and midnight,
Through smoke and battle scars,
Through sun and fleeting shadow,
We are sailing to the stars!
‘Stranger!—That ragged ensign
By northern winds unrolled,
Is dipped in blood whose colour
Was never bought or sold.
The heart of England’s bravest
Still beats on the bending mast,
Sull burns at the hattle signal,
And rushes before the blast!’
By northern winds unrolled,
Is dipped in blood whose colour
Was never bought or sold.
The heart of England’s bravest
Still beats on the bending mast,
Sull burns at the hattle signal,
And rushes before the blast!’
From the iron-bound Crimea
Came this royal crimson stain;
This from the palms of Lucknow,
This from Egyptian plain.
This from the wave-worn sailor,
This from the Christian seer,
This from the Austral desert,—
The blood of the pioneer.
Came this royal crimson stain;
This from the palms of Lucknow,
This from Egyptian plain.
This from the wave-worn sailor,
This from the Christian seer,
This from the Austral desert,—
The blood of the pioneer.
And this, the heroic story
Of mother, maid, and wife,
Who gave to its hue of glory
All the dearest light of life.
So, wrapped in these faithful colours
And looking with hope on high,
Our England presses forward
To her immortality.
Of mother, maid, and wife,
Who gave to its hue of glory
All the dearest light of life.
So, wrapped in these faithful colours
And looking with hope on high,
Our England presses forward
To her immortality.