16 ONE THOUSAND FAMOUS THINGS
Rule, Britannia
WHEN Britain first, at Heaven's command,
Arose from out the azure main ;
This was the charter of the land,
And guardian angels sang this strain :
Rule, Britannia, Britannia rule the waves ;
Britons never, never, never shall be slaves I
The nations not so blest as thee,
Must in their turns to tyrants fall :
While thou shalt flourish great and free,
The dread and envy of them all.
Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful from each foreign stroke :
As the loud blast that tears the skies-
Serves but to root thy native oak. "
Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame ;
All their attempts to bend thce down
Will but arouse thy generous flame ;
But work their woe* and thy renown.
To thee belongs the rural reign ;
Thy cities shall with commerce shine :
All thine shall be the subject main,
And every shore it circles thine.
The Muses, still with freedom found?
Shall to thy happy coast repair :
Blest isle ! with matchless beauty crowned,
And manly hearts to guard the fair*
Rule, Britannia, Britannia rule the waves ;
Britons never, nevers never shall be slaves !
James Tlm/ison
The Way the Calf Went Home
ONE day, through the primeval wood*
A calf walked home, as good calves should ;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do*
This forest trail became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again,
And this, before men were aware,
A city's crowded thoroughfare ;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.
Samuel Walter Foss