Poem

England's Yet

by Henry Lawson · 1900

She's England yet! The nations never knew her; Or, if they knew, were ready to forget.She made new worlds that paid no homage to her, Because she called for none as for a debt.The bullying power who deemed all nations craven, And that her star of destiny had set,Was sure that she would seek a coward's haven-- And tempted her, and found her England yet!
We learn our England, and we soon forget,To learn again that she is England yet!
They watched Britannia ever looking forward, But could not see the things her children saw.They watched in Southern seas her boats pull shoreward, But only marked the eyeglass, heard the "Haw !"In tents, and bungalows, and outpost stations, Thin white men ruled for her, unseen, unheard,Till millions of strange races and far nations Were ready to obey her at a word.
We learn our England, and in peace forget,To learn in storm that she is England yet.
She's England yet; and men shall doubt no longer; And mourn no longer for what she has been.She'll be a greater England and a stronger-- A better England than the world has seen.Our own, who reck not of a king's regalia, Tinsel of crowns, and courts that fume and fret,Are fighting for her--fighting for Australia-- And blasphemously hail her "England Yet!"
She's England yet, with little to regret--Ay, more than ever, she'll be England yet!
Sources, publication & text notesReference details
Canonical recordPOEM-000292
Copy-textLawson corpus evidence graph; selected complete copy-text with independently corroborated wording and retained line/stanza boundaries; selected copy-text retained exactly under D-180/D-208
Source recordSRC-000066
Rights determinationRGT-000489
Text statusCANONICAL TEXT READY
TranscriptionDIPLOMATIC_D208_D180

How texts and rights are checked →

While The Billy Boils · Public-domain text · www.whilethebillyboils.com.au/poems/englands-yet

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