THE WARDENS OF THE GATE. i. HI. II. Beckles Willson. If, at evening, by the roadside, But those vanished, valiant legions, In the heart of war-scarred Flanders, They are gone, the land enfolds them There should kneel one English mother We are here, come through the valley, Praying for her son who perished, Brethren of the blasted enclave Think ye of the tens of thousands Ye, that dread ordeal surviving, In the Homeland, and beyond seas Hear the call, horse, foot and gunners Who could feel and share her sorrow, New-lit by this revelation Of the greatness of the valour Of the men who died at Yper O, those lost and silent legions In the heart of storied Flanders Could they spring from out the meadows And return to us who loved them, What a host would march to-morrow By the westward road from Menin Staunch and stalwart, straight and smiling, As they came and as they left us O, the youths who died at Yper Kept the foeman from the city Of the Spirit of the Salient Where ye dwell, soever distant, Have we not this thing in common Shall our fellowship be sundered IV. Nay, by yonder heap of ruins, By the beacon on the landscape, By yon symbol of their suffering That their sight, when living, greeted, As they passed on through the Grand Place That their dying eyes saluted Let us league ourselves together, We who served the world at Yper, Tasted of the curse and glory, Let us dedicate our union V. To the men who fought at Yper In the heart of ancient Flanders, Faced the guns and stoutly manned them, Swam the slough and dug the trenches. To the men who served and suffered, To the youth who died for England. Kept the foeman from this city J In the heart of storied Flanders, Veterans of the Bloody Salient, Wardens of the Gate to Calais 3" [The following poem, which is now published as a wholefor the first time, was sent to Field-Marshal Earl French of Ypresa year agoAs a result of the appeal then made by its author, the League was founded and dedicated to u the men who fought at Yper" (the Flemish form of Ypres). ft v.. t I

HISTORISCHE KRANTEN

The Ypres Times (1921-1936) | 1923 | | pagina 3