Before the British Fleet

Written during the Falklands War

Before the British Fleet sailed out

At this despite

Like one last lonely, errant knight

For chivalry,

Three hundred years set all

This rabid world alight,

Then slowly faded,

Like some tainted tapestry.

 

Three hundred years hang all

Upon this lonely hour,

Each generation tugs its children

At the blood,

To whisper ‘pride’ at each and every

Listening ear

That every tide and time be caught

Before the flood.

 

But as the cynic world

Now stands aside

To see this final far-flung tilt

At mastery,

Who waits as breathless as

The autumn bride,

While time sits trembling at the edge

Of history?

 

David Lewis Paget