LVIII ^ THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



What saith the Jordan to the sea ? 



And thou, old Kishon, what aileth thee ? 



Why run the rivers with hurrying gait ? 



And what the tidings they relate 

 To the fields that can no longer wait, 

 And the woods that with wild joy vibrate ? — 



O it is the 'Earth of Israel' singing, 



Which feels the tread of her children's feet, 



And it is the shout of the strong hills ringing 



Which thus their ancient tenant greet: 



Zion is free! Zion is free! 



My children, my children, come back to me!" 



Yielding to the urgings of friends, I take the anthologist's privi- 

 lege of inserting some lines of my own: 



THE GALAHADS 



ii * * 'If * 



Yet faint above the din, on ether borne, 



A clear voice rang the ancient battle cries: 



"Freedom and honor! truth and chivalry! 



St. George, defend thy pledges unto death! 



St. George, defend the weak, and save the world!" 



And all true sons of Britain felt it vain 



To live, unless as British knights of old, 



Then lo! with reverence and pride we saw 



The knights of old appear, — Sir Galahads, 



None purer, none more brave. They had been known 



Till then but as the schoolboys of the camps. 



Carefree and merry, warming elder blood 



By pranks of diving, reckless climbing feats 



Up sheerest precipices. Trackless wilds 



Knew them as tenters. The shy beaver heard 



Their paddles unafraid. Widely they ranged 



The peaks and dales uncharted, seeking risks 



For love of danger and the jest with Death. 



Yesterday they were children. Scarcely yet 



Knew we they needed less our tender care, 



Until some grave look or some manly deed 



Warned us the soul was ripe. We pondered then. 



So came the world's great need and Honor's call. 



And silent, modest, up they rose to serve, — 



Then in our wonder we beheld them men 



And saw the Knights of Arthur's Table stand 



Before us in their sacred panoply. 



Little they said and naught delayed their going. 



Farewells to launch, canoe, fair lake and range, 



A tender word to mother, and forth they fared, 



As thousands like them fared from lake and stream , 



Crusaders of the Grail. Rude knights were some 



But knightly all: God loves all faithful men. 



