The Stand Of Wilson's Patrol

Beside the Shanghai river, Alone with the Veldt and sky, The heroes of Wilson's patrol By the shrines of the heathen lie, The sons of a strong young nation By the halls of a creed gone by. Slowly the foes drew round them, And those who might have fled Preferred to stand by their fellows And die at their posts instead, To be numbered for ever and ever With England's glorious dead. The day dragged slowly onward, As dwindled their little store, Till spent was the last of the powder And the sound of the fight gave o'er, Till the rifles ceased their clamour, And the guns spoke out no more. But ere the band lay silent By the silent Maxims there, The hymn of a loyal nation Rose up on the startled air, Telling the wondering foemen How the 'palefaced' English dare. The anthem of loyal England Ne'er rang more true and high Than there 'mid the dead and dying, Under an alien sky, When the sun and the flowing river Saw Wilson's patrol die. Beside the Shanghai river The Briton thinks with pride How the men of Wilson's patrol Fell fighting side by side, With the name of the queen they fought for In the lips of the last that died.