Halt! {255}Shoulder arms! Recover
As you were!
Right wheel! Eyes left! Attention!
Stand at ease!
O Britain! O my country! Words like these
Have made thy name a terror and a fear
To all the nations. Witness Ebro's banks,
Assaÿe, Toulouse, Nivelle, and Waterloo,
Where the grim despot muttered--_Sauve qui peut!_
And Ney fled darkling.--Silence in the ranks!
Inspired {256}by these, amidst the iron crash
Of armies, in the centre of his troop
The soldier stands--unmovable, not rash--
Until the forces of the foeman droop;
Then knocks the Frenchman to eternal smash,
Pounding them into mummy. Shoulder, hoop!