Faded, forlorn
the banners of our memories
once held high now cast aside,
cast down,
trodden into the dust
by legions of those
who came after in ignorance;
Even the ghosts have departed
this empty husk
of a once was Power
this paralysed parody
of those Sceptered Isles,
that seat of Mars crumbled
overwhelmed by the deluge
that took from our hearts
those Heroes whose deeds
validated all that we stood for;
All that we ever believed in
is now counted as the small-change
amongst market traders
whom we let barter our very souls
for a mess of pottage ;
Whilst entombed in our sonorous sloth ,
they took from us all that had once been
vouchedsafe by Viking ,Saxon ,Norman
for so long so very long an Age;
In our belated awakening
we find ourselves naked,
caught in the glare of a history
which no longer recognises
nor has need of us
in this our unkempt beggarly state,
of which those who once fought for us
would be ashamed
that all their sacrifice
all their pain
had yielded such a paltry gain.