The fount of Honour, sealed till now
To all save claims of rank and birth,
Makes green the laurel on the brow
Ennobled but by soldier's worth.
Of these the bravest and the best
Who 'scaped the chance of shot and sword,
England doth, by her Queen, invest
With Valour's Cross—their great reward!
Marking her sense of something still,
A central nobleness, that lies