The Poets & The War VI

By Ernest Rhys
The War Illustrated, Volume 1, No. 10, Page 320, November 18, 1939.

London, the "Flower of Cities All"
As old Dunbar once did you call, -
"Rose Royal and Original."

You that have seen beneath your sky
Long lines of men go marching by
To take the field for Liberty.

What sable pall is dropt to-night
Upon the town that shone so bright -
Shops, streets ashine and myriad light?

And they, your peerless women, they
That are your silent soldiery, -
What fate for theirs and them may be?

And we that are your sons of grace, -
This night we bow like one that prays,
For a man must love his mothering place,

And when the war planes hover near,
And the winged harpies swoop and lower,
We love you most, oh! fearless flower!

- The Sunday Times

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