Armistice Day, 1919.
When the long thunder-roll of gun to gun
Ceased, and our men drew breath a little
space,
Did not each warrior see his mother’s face?
Did not each father think upon his son?
But in to-day’s deep silence, everyone
Bowing his head bethinks him of God’s grace
–Who for His purpose saved our Island race,
And prays that Peace her world-wide course
may run.
But in the silence, I can hear a call
“Pray ye, but work! for labour now is prayer;
–How else shall England from her wounds
revive!
How else shall our brave dead in victory share!
No place for drones in this our teeming hive,
Work! heart, and head, and hand, lest Empire
fall!”
(Carlisle Journal, 18 November 1919, p. 4)