748
RUDYARD KIPLING'S VERSE
It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray,
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:—
For fear they should succumb and go astray,
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say:—
"We never pay any one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost,
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!"
No matter how trifling the cost,
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!"
THE ANVIL
(Norman Conquest, 1066)
England's on the anvil—hear the hammers ring—
Clanging from the Severn to the Tyne!
Never was a blacksmith like our Norman King—
England's being hammered, hammered, hammered into line!
Clanging from the Severn to the Tyne!
Never was a blacksmith like our Norman King—
England's being hammered, hammered, hammered into line!
England's on the anvil! Heavy are the blows!
(But the work will be a marvel when it's done)
Little bits of Kingdoms cannot stand against their foes.
England's being hammered, hammered, hammered into one!
(But the work will be a marvel when it's done)
Little bits of Kingdoms cannot stand against their foes.
England's being hammered, hammered, hammered into one!
There shall be one people—it shall serve one Lord—
(Neither Priest nor Baron shall escape!)
It shall have one speech and law, soul and strength and sword.
England's being hammered, hammered, hammered into shape!
(Neither Priest nor Baron shall escape!)
It shall have one speech and law, soul and strength and sword.
England's being hammered, hammered, hammered into shape!
