Fourth of June.

Item

Fourth of June.

THEY were the life of English homes: it seems

The victory of Death is very nigh.

Who could have dreamed last June that they would lie

By far Gallipoli or French neighbour streams

Fall'n in the crowning hour when youth redeems

The pledge of boyhood? "None ultimately die

Who die for England," they have made repIy

"We have lived to see the battles of our dreams,î

Death cannot rob them of the soldier's prize

" Self-sacrifice. He is too weak to take

The joy of having given from the eyes,

The light of consecration from the brow

They have laid down their lives for England's sake,

They are the living soul of England now

Eton."

(The Times, June 4th, 1915
Title
Fourth of June.
Identifier
greatwar_macdonald22
Item sets
A Crown of Amaranth
Media
<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">Fourth of June. <br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/></h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line">THEY were the life of English homes: it seems </p><p class="line">The victory of Death is very nigh.</p><p class="line">Who could have dreamed last June that they would lie</p><p class="line">By far Gallipoli or French neighbour streams</p><p class="line">Fall'n in the crowning hour when youth redeems</p><p class="line">The pledge of boyhood? "None ultimately die</p><p class="line">Who die for England," they have made repIy </p><p class="line">"We have lived to see the battles of our dreams,î</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Death cannot rob them of the soldier's prize </p><p class="line">" Self-sacrifice. He is too weak to take </p><p class="line">The joy of having given from the eyes, </p><p class="line">The light of consecration from the brow</p><p class="line">They have laid down their lives for England's sake,</p><p class="line">They are the living soul of England now</p></div><p class="byline">Eton."</p>(The <em>Times</em>, June 4th, 1915</body></html>