Zeebrugge, 23 April 1918
1
THEY went not forth as some were wont to go
In coat of mail, radiant from plume to spur,
But in the simple habit of the seas,
At night, by stealth, the starlight blotted out
With smoke that strove to shroud the very Cross
Watching above them. Wherefore, in their hearts
That cried "St. George for England," was their flag.
So all unheralded they faced the lists.
2
They came not home as some were wont to come
'Mid shouts and mirth, with pomp and circumstance,
But all in silence, while their comrades gripped
The straining drag-ropes - gun and limber black
As winter night. Yet came they conquerors,
For sure and certain hope shone from the Cross
That lay above them. And within their hearts
Peace and "St. George for England." Then there crashed
Three volleys to proclaim the accolade.
There's a voice
... the breeze has spoken strangers, with a stirring tale to tell,
And a thousand eager voices flung the challenge out to sea:
"Come they hither in the old way, in the only way that's free?"
And the flying Breeze called softly: "In the old way . . ."
