VICTORY DAY (continued)

From the past and present fighting-strength
Of that great company.

Those who lived, and those who died,
They were one in noble pride

Of desperate endeavour and of duty nobly done;
For their lives they risked and gave

Very Soul of Life to save,

And by their own great valour, and the Grace of

God, they won.

Britons, Britons, Britons are they!—

Britons, every one!

WHEN HE TRIES THE HEARTS OF MEN

As gold is tried in the furnace,

So He tries the hearts of men;

And the dwale and the dross shall suffer loss,
When He tries the hearts of men.

And the wood, and the hay, and the stubble
Shall pass in the flame away,

For gain is loss, and loss is gain,

And treasure of earth is poor and vain,
When He tries the hearts of men.

As gold is refined in the furnace,

So He fines the hearts of men.

The purge of the flame doth rid them of shame, When He tries the hearts of men.

O, better than gold, yea, than much fine gold,
When He tries the hearts of men,

Are Faith, and Hope, and Truth, and Love,
And the Wisdom that cometh from above,
When He tries the hearts of men.

POISON-SEEDS

Is there, in you or me,

Seed of that poison-tree

Which, in its bitter fruiting, bore

Such vintage sore

Of red calamity—

Black wine of horror and of Death,

And soul-catastrophe ?

Search well and see!

Yea-search and see!

And, if there be

Tear up its roots with zealous care,

With deep soul-probing and with prayer,

Lest, in the coming years,

Again it bear

This same dread fruit of blood and tears,

And ruth beyond compare.

Each soul that strips it of one evil thing
Lifts all the world towards God's good purposing.

THE WAR-MAKERS

Who are the Makers of Wars?
The Kings of the earth.

And who are these Kings of the earth?
Only men-not always even men of worth,
Put claiming rule by right of birth.

And Wisdom?-does that come by birth?
Nay then too often the reverse.
Wise father oft has son perverse;
Solomon's son was Israel's curse.

Why suffer things to reason so averse?
It always has been so,

And only now does knowledge grow

To that high point where all men know-
Who would be free must strike the blow.

And how long will man suffer so?
Until his soul of Freedom sings,
And, strengthened by his sufferings,
He breaks the worn-out leading-strings,

THE WAR-MAKERS (continued)

And calls to stricter reckonings
Those costliest things-unworthy Kings.

Not all are worthless. Some, with sense of duty, Strive to invest their lives with grace and beauty. To such-high honour! But the rest-self-seek

ers,

Pride-puffed-out with them!-useless mischiefmakers!

The time is past when any man or nation
Will meekly bear unrighteous domination.

The time is come when every burden-bearer
Must, in the fixing of his load, be sharer.