[43]

[43]

THE RED CROSS.

St. George, I learned to love thee in my youth

When of thy deeds I read in deathless song;

And now, when I behold the dragon Wrong

Hard by the castle-gates of Love and Truth,

I feel the world's great need of thee, forsooth,

To strike the heavy blow delayed too long.

Then turning from the mediæval throng,

Where thou wert bravest, yet the first in ruth,

I watch thy votaries by land and sea

Armed with thy sacred sign go forth to fight

Anew the battle of humanity

Beneath the flag of mercy and of right;

No holier band a holier realm e'er trod

Than this—the world's knight-errantry of God!

[44]

[44]

MIDSUMMER NOON.

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