Saturday Poetry Corner: For All We Have And Are

 

In the wake of this week's disastrous political debate and the 23rd Anniversary
of the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, may these words of the great English
writer Rudyard Kipling inspire all Americans who read them today.

Image courtesy/iStock

For all we have and are,

For all our children's fate,

Stand up and take the war.

The Hun is at the gate!

Our world has passed away

In wantonness o'erthrown,

There is nothing left to-day

But steel and fire and stone!

Though all we knew depart,

The old Commandments stand-

"In courage keep your heart,

In strength lift up your hand."

Once more we hear the word

That sickened earth of old;-

"No law except the Sword

Unsheathed and uncontrolled."

Once more it knits mankind

Once more the nations go

To meet and break and bind

A crazed and driven foe.

Comfort, content, delight,

The ages' slow-bought gain,

They shrivelled in a night,

Only ourselves remain.

To face the naked days

In silent fortitude,

Through perils and dismays

Renewed and re-renewed.

Though all we made depart,

The old Commandments stand:-

"In patience keep your heart,

In strength lift up your hand."

No easy hope or lies

Shall bring us to our goal,

But iron sacrifice

Of body, will, and soul.

There is but one task for all-

One life for each to give,

What stands if Freedom fall?

Who dies if England live?

"For All We Have And Are"
(1914)
Rudyard Kipling
(1865-1936)
English journalist, novelist,
poet, and short story writer