Those that have stayed at thy knees, Mother, go call them in We that were bred overseas wait and would speak with our kin. Not in the dark do we fight-haggle and flout and gibe; Selling our love for a price, loaning our hearts for a bribe. Gifts have we only to-day-Love without promise or fee Hear, for thy children speak, from the uttermost parts of the sea: The Song of the Cities. Bombay. Royal and Dower-royal, I the Queen Fronting thy richest sea with richer handsA thousand mills roar through me where I glean All races from all lands. Calcutta. Me the Sea-captain loved, the River built, Wealth sought and Kings adventured life to hold. Hail, England! I am Asia-Power on silt, Death in my hands, but Gold! Madras. Clive kissed me on the mouth and eyes and brow, Wonderful kisses, so that I became Crowned above Queens-a withered beldame now, Brooding on ancient fame. Rangoon. Hail, Mother! Do they call me rich in trade? Singapore. Hail, Mother! East and West must seek my aid Ere the spent gear shall dare the ports afar. The second doorway of the wide world's trade Is mine to loose or bar. Hong-kong. Hail, Mother! Hold me fast; my Praya sleeps Yet guard (and landward) or to-morrow sweeps Halifax. Into the mist my guardian prows put forth, Quebec and Montreal. Peace is our portion. Yet a whisper rose, Victoria. From East to West the circling word has passed, Till West is East beside our land-locked blue; From East to West the tested chain holds fast, The well-forged link rings true! Capetown. Hail! Snatched and bartered oft from hand to hand, I dream my dream, by rock and heath and pine, Of Empire to the northward. Ay, one land From Lion's Head to Line! Melbourne. Greeting! Nor fear nor favour won us place, Got between greed of gold and dread of drouth, Loud-voiced and reckless as the wild tide-race That whips our harbour-mouth! Sydney. Greeting! My birth-stain have I turned to good; Forcing strong wills perverse to steadfastness; The first flush of the tropics in my blood, And at my feet Success! Brisbane. The northern stirp beneath the southern skies— I build a nation for an Empire's need, Suffer a little, and my land shall rise, Queen over lands indeed! Hobart. Man's love first found me; man's hate made me Hell; For my babes' sake I cleansed those infamies. Earnest for leave to live and labour well God flung me peace and ease. Auckland. Last, loneliest, loveliest, exquisite, apart On us, on us the unswerving season smiles, Who wonder 'mid our fern why men depart To seek the Happy Isles! England's Answer. Truly ye come of The Blood; slower to bless than to ban; Little used to lie down at the bidding of any man. Flesh of the flesh that I bred, bone of the bone that I bare; Stark as your sons shall be-stern as your fathers were. Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether, But we do not fall on the neck nor kiss when we come together. My arm is nothing weak, my strength is not gone by; Sons, I have borne many sons but my dugs are not dry. |