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Britannia Triumphans

                     
I             

MOTHER of five mighty nations,
    on her island throne she sits serene,
She who in her right hand proudly
    wields the sceptre of the Ocean Queen.
Over continents and islands
    flies her ocean-ruling flag unfurled:
Unto all her roaring markets
    flows the streaming trade of half the world.
Still the vigour of her children, —
    courses thro' her Empire's every part,
Still the Titan pulse of Empire
    throbs for ever at her mighty heart.
Still triumphant, still unfearing,
    goes she ever on her conquering way;
Hers the hope of young To-morrow,
    hers the glorious promise of To-day.
Hers the laurels of Trafalgar —
    hers the deathless fame of Waterloo;
Hers the boon that builds up Empire —
    strong men's hearts to queen and country true.

                          II                     

Onward, onward, sons of England,
    ever slaying evil, bringing good,
Hewing down the ghastly fetish
    from its altar black with human blood;
Conquering fever-swamp and jungle;
    Staying not tho' Death stand face to face:
Peace and plenty following ever
    on the footsteps of the English race.
Onward, onward, sons of Britain,
    onward by the same old glorious way,
Owning still that dogged courage
    that can hold the banded world at bay.
Looking backward thro' the ages
    on an unstained history's spotless page,
Knowing that the name of Briton
    is the wide world's proudest heritage.

Notes

This was taken from pages 29-31 of Miss Fox Smith's book Songs of Greater Britain (and other poems) published by Sherratt and Hughes, 27 St. Anne's Street, Manchester, England in 1899.

It was published when she was only 19 years of age and shortly after she, like the rest of Great Britain, had undergone the mass celebrations for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It is hardly surprising that this last mass celebration of the British Empire at it's height influenced the young Cicely to such patriotic outpourings.

JS

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