THE BELGIAN MOTHER
AND
BALLADS OF BATTLE TIME
By
T. A. BROWNE
SECOND EDITION
TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA,
LIMITED, AT ST. MARTIN'S HOUSE :: :: MCMXVII
COPYRIGHT, CANADA, 1917
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED
Dedicated
to
The Great War Veterans living,
and dead, by whose exalted
patriotism and heroic sacrifice
in war the British Empire
was preserved
CANADA
TO THE VETERANS OF THE GREAT WAR
As gallant knights, as valiant-souled crusaders,
You come from quests of peril o'er the sea;
From conflicts stern, against the brute invaders,
With laurels nobly won, you come to me.
In contest grim, the mightiest of the ages,
My banner through the carnage you have borne;
Your names are written large on Glory's pages,
I greet you, gallant soldiers, battle-worn.
Through all the years to be, I shall remember
The deeds you wrought, since first you sailed away;
Since flaming down through Belgium, that September,
The Prussian hell-hounds, baying, sought Calais.
There Ypres and St. Julien, shining glorious,
Red Courcelette and Vimy's Ridge aglow,
And many another unsung fight, victorious,
Wherein you clove a pathway through the foe.
You have returned with memories unfading,
Of prodigies performed in Freedom's name,
Of charging hosts and volley's enfilading,
And roaring craters curtained with death's flame.
Some come not back; in lands afar they're sleeping.
Who dies for Freedom fills no nameless grave;
Their memory enshrined all hearts are keeping,
So sleep remembered, all the gallant brave.
Yours is the place of honour in the nation;
Who dares for Right the highest shall command;
Who pours for Liberty his heart's libation
Shall win the grateful tribute of my land.
Contents
The Belgian Mother
The Burial of King Edward, The Peacemaker
The Coronation of King George V
The Greater Canada
The Battle Call
Give! Give! Give!
The Battle of Langemarck
"Somewhere in France"
Lines to Greece
Ireland
Kismet
The Crimson Year, Christmas, 1916
Grit and Tory
"De Fightin' Fisherman"
Monsieur Poilu
"The Bells of Belgium"<