For Veteran's Day

Aside from the fact that one of my favorite things about Veteran's Day is Fed.R.Civ.P. 6(a) (on the calculation of time), I thought I'd give a little praise to some of our British allies.  Much is made here about our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen that are fighting, but it is worth giving thanks to those who have joined our cause.  My view is that there is no one better to do this than Rudyard Kipling, who writes of war and warriors with honesty and without a blind eye to war's horrors.  So, here's The Veterans.

The Veterans

Written for the Gathering of Survivors of the Indian Mutiny, Royal Albert Hall (1907).

To-day, across our fathers'  graves,
The astonished years reveal
The remnant of that desperate host
Which cleansed our East with steel.

Hail and farewell! We greet you here,
With tears that none will scorn--
O Keepers of the House of old,
Or ever we were born!

One service more we dare to ask --
Pray for us, heroes, pray,
That when Fate lays on us our task
We do not shame the Day!

Update:    Can I just point out how little I like the new text formatting scheme on Typepad?  What happened to "centered" and "block quote" alignments?  Why should it take me 20 minutes to type in a poem? 

Comments

[j-a]

praise, i don't know about. more of a terrifying honour, this.