VERSES TO A LORD
WHO, IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS, SAID THAT
THOSE WHO OPPOSED THE SOUTH AFRICAN
ADVENTURE CONFUSED SOLDIERS
WITH MONEY-GRUBBERS
You thought because we held, my lord,
An ancient cause and strong,
That therefore we maligned the sword:
My lord, you did us wrong.
We also know the sacred height
Up on Tugela side,
Where those three hundred fought with Beit
And fair young Wernher died.
The daybreak on the failing force,
The final sabres drawn:
Tall Goltman, silent on his horse,
Superb against the dawn.
The little mound where Eckstein stood
And gallant Albu fell,
And Oppenheim, half blind with blood,
Went fording through the rising flood—
My Lord, we know them well.
The little empty homes forlorn,
The ruined synagogues that mourn,
In Frankfort and Berlin;
We knew them when the peace was torn—
We of a nobler lineage born—
And now by all the gods of scorn
We mean to rub them in.