Sailor, What of the Debt We Owe You?

Item

Sailor, What of the Debt We Owe You?

Sailor, what of the debt we owe you?
Day or night is the peril more?
Who so dull that he fails to know you,
Sleepless guard of our island shore?

Safe the corn to the farmyard taken;
Grain ships safe upon all the seas;
Homes in peace and a faith unshaken --
Sailor, what do we owe for these?

Safe the clerk at his desk; the trader
Counts unruined his honest gain;
Safe though yonder the curs't invader
Pours red death over hill and plain.

Sailor, what of the debt we owe you?
Now is the hour at last to pay,
Now in the stricken field to show you
What is the spirit you guard to-day.

-- Andrew John Stuart.
(Eldest son of the Earl of Castlestewart, Lieut. 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, killed in action in France between Sept. 25 and 27, 1915.)

Title: Sailor, What of the Debt We Owe You?
Identifier: greatwar_cunliffe120

Item sets: Poems of the Great War

Media: <html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">Sailor, What of the Debt We Owe You?</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">Sailor</span>, what of the debt we owe you?</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Day or night is the peril more?</p><p class="line">Who so dull that he fails to know you,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Sleepless guard of our island shore?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Safe the corn to the farmyard taken;</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Grain ships safe upon all the seas;</p><p class="line">Homes in peace and a faith unshaken --</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Sailor, what do we owe for these?</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Safe the clerk at his desk; the trader</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Counts unruined his honest gain;</p><p class="line">Safe though yonder the curs't invader</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Pours red death over hill and plain.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Sailor, what of the debt we owe you?</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Now is the hour at last to pay,</p><p class="line">Now in the stricken field to show you</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">What is the spirit you guard to-day.</p></div><p class="byline">-- Andrew John Stuart.<br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/> (Eldest son of the Earl of Castlestewart, Lieut. 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, killed in action in France between Sept. 25 and 27, 1915.)</p></body></html>