Poem by Cicely Fox Smith

Britannia Africana

Where the Cape frowns out o'er the waters,
    Staunchly she takes her stand,
With the flag that the English follow
  Held firm in her upraised hand.
High o'er the land it flutters,
    Unfurled in the breaking dawn;
Flame-bright in her right hand glitters
    The sword that is always drawn.

Beneath her upon the cliff-side
    Shatter the waves in spray.
But the foes that strike at her stronghold
    Are not less vain than they.
At sea draws back from the cliff-side,
    Where the dark caves gloomy yawn,
They gather their shattered squadrons
    From the sword that is always drawn!

Forward, O queen of the Ocean,
    Leave nought of thy task undone:
For thro' toil and trouble and warfare
    Was our English Empire won.
Go on thy way and conquer,
    Scorning to cringe and fawn,
Defending thine own broad banner
    With the sword that is always drawn!

1. Morgan Le Fay
2. Homeward
3. Old Cob Wall
4. The Tow-Rope Girls
5. The Old Love and the New

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