<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="" class="head">A Flying Song</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">O THE proud purr of it!</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Whiz of it, whir of it!</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">O the fierce might of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Flare of it, flight of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Spin of it, speed of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Grip of it, greed of it!</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">O the wild will of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Throb of it, thrill of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Vim of it, verve of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Swoop of it, swerve of it!</p><p class="line">Like a great dragon-fly over the blue,</p><p class="line">So it flared, so it flashed, so it flickered and flew.</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Nay, but the Hand of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Taking command of it;</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And the wise Soul of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Keeping control of it;</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And the brave Heart of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Beating as part of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Aiming the dart of it</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Into the air:</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">That is the best of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Ruling the rest of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">That is the marvel and miracle there!</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Yonder no engine, witless and blind,</p><p class="line">Driven by senseless piston and rod;</p><p class="line">Its pinions are courage, its pilot is mind;</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Its petrol and steam</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Are vision and dream;</p><p class="line">Its nostrils are filled with the breath of a god,</p><p class="line">For there, like a speck, 'twixt the wings' mighty span,</p><p class="line">Sit the Courage and Cunning and Strength of a Man!</p><p class="line">O wind thou art humbled, O space thou art slain</p><p class="line">By the wiles of a heart, and the wit of a brain!</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">O the way of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Swoop of it, sway of it!</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">O the wild will of it,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Throb of it, thrill of it!</p></div></body></html> · Great War