2May1982

The Falklands

We, who may but sit and fret

In impotence, while you would dare

Would brave the battle with you yet

If only chance had set us there.

 

We each have Vulcans of the mind

To harbour some dark manhood in,

But like the bat that flutters blind

We trust in dreams we cannot win.

 

And when each day's short course has run

And dreams lie scattered at our feet,

We think of all we might have done

And join, at heart, your battlefleet.

 

David Lewis Paget