Here, where Vespasian's legions struck the sands,
And Cedric with his Saxons entered in,
And Henry's army leapt afloat to win
Convincing triumphs over neighbour lands,
Vaster battalions press for further strands,
To argue in the selfsame bloody mode
Which this late age of thought, and pact, and code,
Still fails to mend. - Now deckward tramp the bands,
Yellow as autumn leaves, alive as spring;
And as each host draws out upon the sea
Beyond which lies the tragical To-be,
None dubious of the cause, none murmuring,
Wives, sisters, parents, wave white hands and smile,
As if they knew not that they weep the while.
And Cedric with his Saxons entered in,
And Henry's army leapt afloat to win
Convincing triumphs over neighbour lands,
Vaster battalions press for further strands,
To argue in the selfsame bloody mode
Which this late age of thought, and pact, and code,
Still fails to mend. - Now deckward tramp the bands,
Yellow as autumn leaves, alive as spring;
And as each host draws out upon the sea
Beyond which lies the tragical To-be,
None dubious of the cause, none murmuring,
Wives, sisters, parents, wave white hands and smile,
As if they knew not that they weep the while.
inviata da Bernart Bartleby - 9/11/2017 - 14:48
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Versi di Thomas Hardy, nella raccolta “Poems of the Past and the Present” pubblicata nel 1901
Musica di John Pierre Herman Joubert, compositore sudafricano classe 1927
Una delle molte poesie di Thomas Hardy che si riferiscono alla seconda delle cosiddette “guerre boere”, combattute in Sudafrica in due riprese (1880-1881 e poi 1899-1902) tra gli inglesi e i coloni di origine olandese, detti boeri.