RULE BRITANNIA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2629, 18 May 1889, Page 1 (Supplement)

RULE BRITANNIA.

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" Milcwl arc tho peace makers,' so say I; therefore let us build seventy-fours. —S/r Walicr Lot Spain her vine-clad mountains boast, And franco her sunny plains, Loud howl tho storms on P.ntain s coast, Full thick her winter rains, Iler summer suns with feeble ray And clouded splendour shine, Yet, Queen of Earth, what land can say lior blessings equal tliiae? Though rudo thy clime, yet health and enao Thy smiling valleys till, Thy varied prospects ever |)lease Rich wood and stream and In!). Thy speech in every zone is found, Thy flap; on overy sea, And Heaven with choicest gifts has crowned, Wealth, peace, and liberty. Let Europe all its millions arm, To them add millions morn, Tho ravage of tho locust-swarm Is bounded by the shore. Our empire needs no conscript host, I'\>r conscripts lire but sluves ; Our wider realms a prouder boast, ijritannia rules the waves. This castle's strength a siege shall mock, Whoe'er tho stonners be, Whose ramparts are the cliff and rock, Whoso moat the stormy sea. Long as the surges round it swell, Lons as the breezes blow, The ocean-isle they guard so well ,Shall laugh at every foe. Great Alfred first the lesson taught, Learnt from tho stubborn Dane, That England's battles must be fought Upon the heaving main. Those restless vultures of the North l ie found tho way to tamo And sent our infant navy forth On its career of fame. Long as tho sea those navies rido And sweep, without control, So long her rule, extending wide, .Shall spread from pole to pole. There have her heroes fought and died In many a famous war, There reigns Britannia undelied Since glorious Trafalgar. Yet madnea.i may—fav bo the hour— Leave navies to decay ; Then farewell peace, and farewell power, I'or both shall pass away. To duty, honour, danger blind, Her Empire bo a name, And leave, a lesson to mankind, Her glory and her shame. Dot if her ancient counsels guido Her ancient valour warm, Still shall she flourish in her pride, And weather every storm ; From age to age her strength increase, More wide lier rule extend, And not till Time itself shall ccaso Her inatehle-o story end. Be wo but worthy of the nanio Our warlike fathers won, Then- flag shall float witii undimm'd fame Wherever shines the sun ; Shall still be heard that bravo old song Deep down in ocean's caves, 1 And cveiy shore the strain prolong— "Britannia mles tho waves." F. W. C.