That use upon the seas,

Was there no other fleet to find

That you strike hands with these?

'Of evil times that men can choose

On evil fate to fall,

What brooding Judgment let you loose

To pick the worst of all?

'In sight of peace—from the Narrow Seas

[4]

O'er half the world to run—

With a cheated crew, to league anew

With the Goth and the shameless Hun!'

[5]

THE VETERANS

[Written for the gathering of survivors of the Indian Mutiny, Albert Hall, 1907.]

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,

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