<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">England to Free Men</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">Men</span> of my blood, you English men!</p><p class="line">From misty hill and misty fen,</p><p class="line">From cot, and town, and plough, and moor,</p><p class="line">Come in -- before I shut the door!</p><p class="line">Into my courtyard paved with stones</p><p class="line">That keep the names, that keep the bones,</p><p class="line">Of none but English men who came</p><p class="line">Free of their lives, to guard my fame.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I am your native land who bred</p><p class="line">No driven heart, no driven head;</p><p class="line">I fly a flag in every sea</p><p class="line">Round the old Earth, of Liberty!</p><p class="line">I am the Land that boasts a crown;</p><p class="line">The sun comes up, the sun goes down --</p><p class="line">And never men may say of me,</p><p class="line">Mine is a breed that is not free.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">I have a wreath! My forehead wears</p><p class="line">A hundred leaves -- a hundred years</p><p class="line">I never knew the words: "You must!"</p><p class="line">And shall my wreath return to dust?</p><p class="line">Freemen! The door is yet ajar;</p><p class="line">From northern star to southern star,</p><p class="line">O ye who count and ye who delve,</p><p class="line">Come in -- before my clock strikes twelve!</p></div><p class="byline">John Galsworthy</p></body></html> · Great War