I was so vague in 1914; tossed
Upon too many purposes, and worthless;
Moody; to this world or the other lost,
Essential nowhere; without calm and mirthless.
And now I have gained for many ends,
See my straight road stretch out so white, so slender,
That happy road, the road of all my friends,
Made glad with peace, and holy with surrender.
Proud, proud we fling to the winds of Time our token,
And in our need there wells in us the power,
Given England's swords to keep her honour clean.
Which they shall be which pierce, and which be broken,
We know not, but we know that every hour
We must shine brighter, take an edge more keen.
Notes
Sadly Masefield died on July 2nd 1917 and so this was not published until after his death.
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Written after death?
From guest Sara (contact)
How could the poem be written after he died? Is 1918 the publishing date? -
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The apparent inconsisty is due to the fact that it is common practice to use the date first published as the writing date. Sorry if you found this confusing.
Jim
Oldpoetry team member
http://oldpoetry.com/help/list/Poem
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