03.05.2012, 20:22
William Gay
1865 - 1897 Großbritannien / Neeseeland
A Sonnet of the Empire
EMPIRE that hast with empires girt the world,
And with the bonds of the imperial sea,
Where moves no wind but stirs thy flag unfurled,
Hast knit in one thy farthest states with thee!
Thou frontest day and night, and not a star<
That shines remotest in the polar sky
But they who love thee, on thy bounds afar,
At eve behold it born, at morning die.
Yet to be great is nought, if nought but great,
And thou from glory must to shame decline,
And we in love and fealty abate,
When from thy greatness dies the soul divine.
And thou no more, with all thy sovereign might,
Art great for peace, for freedom, and for right.
1865 - 1897 Großbritannien / Neeseeland
A Sonnet of the Empire
EMPIRE that hast with empires girt the world,
And with the bonds of the imperial sea,
Where moves no wind but stirs thy flag unfurled,
Hast knit in one thy farthest states with thee!
Thou frontest day and night, and not a star<
That shines remotest in the polar sky
But they who love thee, on thy bounds afar,
At eve behold it born, at morning die.
Yet to be great is nought, if nought but great,
And thou from glory must to shame decline,
And we in love and fealty abate,
When from thy greatness dies the soul divine.
And thou no more, with all thy sovereign might,
Art great for peace, for freedom, and for right.