Rudyard Kipling Poems

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(A. D. 406)

"A Centurion of the Thirtieth" -- Puck of Pook's Hill

My father's father saw it not,
And I, belike, shall never come
To look on that so-holly spot--
That very Rome--

Crowned by all Time, all Art, all Might,
The equal work of Gods and Man,
City beneath whose oldest height--
The Race began!

Soon to send forth again a brood,
Unshakable, we pray, that clings
To Rome's thrice-hammered hardihood--
In arduous things.

Strong heart with triple armour bound,
Beat strongly, for thy life-blood runs,
Age after Age, the Empire round--
In us thy Sons

Who, distant from the Seven Hills,
Loving and serving much, require
Thee-thee to guard 'gainst home-born ills
The Imperial Fire!

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