<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Call.</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="subhead">I.</p><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">There</span> was hush of the human voice, halt of the human tread,</p><p class="line">When an emperor's word proclaimed that the God of Love was dead;</p><p class="line">Dead in the homes of millions, dead in the temple shrine,</p><p class="line">Dead in the soul of nations, dead in yours and mine.</p><p class="line">God! you strike too hard to make us fight the foe</p><p class="line">We've fought and conquered in the ages long ago.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="subhead">II.</p><p class="line">Broken human hopes, shattered human thought,</p><p class="line">As dreamland, hopeland, vanish into naught,</p><p class="line">Tearing out the heart, hacking through the soul,</p><p class="line">Making hell of human might marching to its goal.</p><p class="line">God! we want new words to tell of present wrongs.</p><p class="line">We want new music to the sadness of our songs.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="subhead">III.</p><p class="line">There is nothing from the church, nothing from the priest,</p><p class="line">Gloom along the west, darkness in the east.</p><p class="line">The wisdom of the schools, the glories of the great,</p><p class="line">Blotted out by blood, drenched in human hate.</p><p class="line">God! they're our defenders standing by the gun,</p><p class="line">Dying man by man there to keep what they have won.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="subhead">IV.</p><p class="line">Torn away from lovèd homes to hurl the savage back,</p><p class="line">To learn the lust of fight, the joy of the attack;</p><p class="line">But when they throw away the sword and bring the banner home,</p><p class="line">'Twill be enscrolled with victories won for ages yet to come.</p><p class="line">God! for kings and emperors there is no longer room,</p><p class="line">The freedom they have scorned is the measure of their doom.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">England, stand you steadfast, come along from Wales,</p><p class="line">Scotland, send your warriors, Ireland never fails,</p><p class="line">Britons all beyond the seas, answer to the call</p><p class="line">To fight for freedom, to conquer for us all.</p></div><p class="byline">LAURENCE GOMME.<br xmlns:exist="http://exist.sourceforge.net/NS/exist" xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"/></p></body></html> · Great War