Ave Imperatrix!

From every quarter of your land
They give God thanks who turned away
Death and the needy madmans hand,
Death-fraught, which menaced you that day.

One school of many made to make
Men who shall hold it dearest right
To battle for their rulers sake,
And stake their being in the fight,

Sends greeting humble and sincere,
Though verse be rude and poor and mean,
To you, the greatest as most dear,
Victoria, by Gods grace Our Queen!

Such greeting as should come from those
Whose fathers faced the Sepoy hordes,
Or served you in the Russian snows,
And, dying, left their sons their swords.

And some of us have fought for you
Already in the Afghan pass,
Or where the scarce-seen smoke-puffs flew
From Boer marksmen in the grass;

And all are bred to do your will
By land and sea, wherever flies
The Flag, to fight and follow still,
And work your Empires destinies.

Once more we greet you, though unseen
Our greeting be, and coming slow.
Trust us, if need arise, O Queen,
We shall not tarry with the blow!

Rudyard

Rudyard Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. His notable works include the novels 'The Jungle Book,' 'Kim,' and the poem 'If—.' Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the United Kingdom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, making him the youngest recipient of the award.

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English

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To The Queen

Revered, belovedO you that hold
A nobler office upon earth
Than arms, or power of brain, or birth
Could give the warrior kings of old,

Victoria,since your Royal grace
To one of less desert allows
This laurel greener from the brows
Of him that utterd nothing base;

And should your greatness, and the care
That yokes with empire, yield you time
To make demand of modern rhyme
If aught of ancient worth be there;

Thenwhile a sweeter music wakes,
And thro wild March the throstle calls,
Where all about your palace-walls
The sun-lit almond-blossom shakes

Take, Madam, this poor book of song;
For tho the faults were thick as dust
In vacant chambers, I could trust
Your kindness. May you rule us long,

And leave us rul...

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The Coming Of The Princess

I.


Break dull November skies, and make
Sunshine over wood and lake,
And fill your cells of frosty air
With thousand, thousand welcomes to the Princely pair!
The land and the sea are alight for them;
The wrinkled face of old Winter is bright for them;
The honour and pride of a race
Secure in their dwelling place,
Steadfast and stern as the rocks that guard her,
Tremble and thrill and leap in their veins,
As the blood of one man through the beacon-lit border!
Like a fire, like a flame,
At the sound of her name,
As the smoky-throated cannon mutter it,
As the smiling lips of a nation utter it,
And a hundred rock-lights write it in fire!
Daughter of Empires, the Lady of Lome,
Back through the mists of dim centuries borne,
None nobler, non...

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Queen Victoria

A Prize Birthday Poem, 1885.


We do not sing of vast domain--
Empires as vast as ours are seen,
And o'er their millions despots reign;
We sing the virtues of our Queen.

We think of her when but a maid
The message came, "the King is dead!"
And at her feet a crown was laid;
In deep distress of mind, she said:

"In my behalf I ask your prayers."
Then falling on her knees to pray,
She told the Lord her fears and cares,
And sought from Him strength for her day.

He seemed to say, "Child, do not fear;
I will uphold thee with my hand,
And I will make thy pathway clear,
Thy throne establish in the land."

'Twas thus began Victoria's reign,
And God has made her throne secure;
Her enemies will plot in vain,
For it is d...

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The Veterans

To-day, across our fathers' graves,
The astonished years reveal
The remnant of that desperate host
Which cleansed our East with steel.

Hail and farewell! We greet you here,
With tears that none will scorn,
O Keepers of the House of old,
Or ever we were born!

One service more we dare to ask,
Pray for us, heroes, pray,
That when Fate lays on us our task
We do not shame the Day!

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A Royal Welcome.

By England's side we stand,
We grasp her royal hand,
And pay her rightful homage through her Son;
Thank God for England's care!
Thank God for Britain's heir!
Our hearts go forth to meet him - we are one.

A loyal Province pours
Her thousands to her shores,
From iron-girt Superior to the sea;
We feel our youthful blood
Surge through us like a flood,
There's not a slave amongst us - we are free.

For none but Freemen know
The truly loyal throe
That gives heroic impulse to the Man -
The passion and the fire,
The chivalrous desire:
Our Fathers all were heroes - in the van.

And we, their ardent sons,
Through whom, triumphant, runs
The old intrepid attribute serene,
Would leave our chosen land,
Our homes, our forests gra...

Charles Sangster

On A Foreign War Ship's Salute To The Queen's Standard At Osborne.

With their deep voice, monotonous and slow,
The cannon's thunders roll along the sea;
But 'tis in reverence, and to work no woe
Those sounds here reach the shore and onward flee
Past the oak woods that climb the grassy lea,
To strike thy terraces, and palace fair
With stately salutation offered thee
Who of these potent realms the crown dost wear.
So to the fabric of our future fame,
Set in the green oak of our Empire's might:
Shall history's voice, with measured praise, proclaim
Thy life-long love of justice and of right,
And the good era that thy reign hath been.
To hail thee, reverently, Victoria, Queen.

John Campbell