England

ENGLAND, the home of poetry; the hearthWhere the world's heart so often warmed its hands;Whose soul none but her Shakespeare understands;Whose singing is a silence round the earth;Cradle of Law, where Freedom had its birth;The grave of tyrants; winging her commandsOver the oceans; envy of all lands,Jealous of none, yet worshipful of worth:

England, the acorn, whence to ages sprangThe oak of empire; eagle whose safe wingsMother her brood of colonies; where ringsNo chain of slave; O England, for the clangAnd clash of battle, gird thy loins, and wageWar with the Dark for thy rich heritage.

Leonard Van Noppen