Classic Poem

Great patient Titan, 'neath thy wearying load
Of modern statecraft, human helpfulness;
To whom do come earth's weak in their distress
To crave thine arm to avert the oppressor's goad:
Thou sovereignty within thine isled abode,
Hated and feared, where thou wouldst only bless,
By fools who dream thine iron mightiness
Will crumble in ruin across the world's wide road,—

Though scattered thy sons o'er leagues of empire's rim,
Alien, remote, by severing wind and tide;—
Yet every Briton who knows thy blood in him
In that dread hour will marshal to thy side:—
And if thou crumblest earth's whole frame will groan.
God help this world, thou wilt not sink alone!