To Academy 1943
by E. D. VAUGHAN
PUT away your manuscript and file your lecture notes —
(Phi Bete key and flesh and bone and just a little more)
Thutmose III of Egypt could beat you to the boats
(Angry dust and granite head beside the polished oar).
(Phi Bete key and flesh and bone and just a little more)
Thutmose III of Egypt could beat you to the boats
(Angry dust and granite head beside the polished oar).
Shun the ready aeroplane, reject the urge to flee —
(Cambridge to New Mexico, New Haven to Peru)
Alexander, drunk, could gain land from sea to sea
(All the way to India is but a mile or two).
(Cambridge to New Mexico, New Haven to Peru)
Alexander, drunk, could gain land from sea to sea
(All the way to India is but a mile or two).
Close with care the Quarterly, its drowsy song unheard —
(Footnote the obscurity and document the dream)
Charlemagne won Germany by weapon, not by word
(This the latest of the Saxons all the rest must seem).
(Footnote the obscurity and document the dream)
Charlemagne won Germany by weapon, not by word
(This the latest of the Saxons all the rest must seem).
Let the shadows intercede and Washington appear —
(Wellington guards Waterloo, and Foch is at the Marne)
All the counsel you will need till your heart can hear
(Go strong as Cincinnatus who left an empty barn).
(Wellington guards Waterloo, and Foch is at the Marne)
All the counsel you will need till your heart can hear
(Go strong as Cincinnatus who left an empty barn).
This is what your world must be, this will be your power &emdash
(Learn to walk and learn to breathe and even learn to stand)
You who owned all history inherit but an hour
(Take it now, and seize it now, and hold it in your hand).
(Learn to walk and learn to breathe and even learn to stand)
You who owned all history inherit but an hour
(Take it now, and seize it now, and hold it in your hand).