L
��S. Frances Harrison BEFORE IT WAS LIGHT
On reading that England s east coast was dark early in the war
IGHTS are out from Shields to Whitby, and there burn
no bonfires red High on Cromer or on Saltfleet or on bold Flamborough
Head ; Grimsby, Harwich, Wells, and Lowestoft, shine no
longer on the deep, England s shores are grimly guarded, gravely sentinelled
to sleep.
Coast and isle are thick enshrouded lest an enemy might
mark Cottage lamp or castle beacon beckoning stilly in the
dark. . . .
Tis a new thing for England, the country of the free, Tis a strange thing for England, but so so let it be!
Let it be a little longer till the turning of the tide, Till the talk of foul invasion and of fusillade subside ; Lest the foe, marauding, ravish, and on humble homes
encroach, For the sake of wives and children to be dark is no
reproach.
Lights will glimmer all the gayer for the hours en-
sombred now, When the battle rage has wasted, when the sword gives
place to plow, Every hearth shall bear its blazon, every pane with candle
set Shall irradiate the glooming and illume Old England
yet.
From the North Sea came a peril o er a thousand years
ago, And the peril changed to bounty, as a friend is made
from foe.
F
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