Know this, my brethren, Heaven is clear <br /> And all the clouds are gone-- <br />The Proper Sort shall flourish now, <br /> Good times are coming on"-- <br />The evil that was threatened late <br /> To all of our degree <br />Hath passed in discord and debate, <br /> And,Hey then up go we! <br /> <br />A common people strove in vain <br /> To shame us unto toil, <br />But they are spent and we remain, <br /> And we shall share the spoil <br />According to our several needs <br /> As Beauty shall decree, <br />As Age ordains or Birth concedes, <br /> And, Hey then up go we! <br /> <br />And they that with accursed zeal <br /> Our Service would amend, <br />Shall own the odds and come to heel <br /> Ere worse befall their end: <br />For though no naked word be wrote <br /> Yet plainly shall they see <br />What pinneth Orders on their coat, <br /> And, Hey then up go we! <br /> <br />Our doorways that, in time of fear, <br /> We opened overwide <br />Shall softly close from year to year <br /> Till all be purified; <br />For though no fluttering fan be heard . <br /> Nor chaff be seen to flee-- <br />The Lord shall winnow the Lord's Preferred-- <br /> And, Hey then up go we! <br /> <br />Our altars which the heathen brake <br /> Shall rankly smoke anew, <br />And anise, mint and cummin take <br /> Their dread and sovereign due, <br />Whereby the buttons of our trade <br /> Shall soon restored be <br />With curious work in gilt and braid, <br /> And, Hey then up go we! <br /> <br />Then come, my brethren, and prepare <br /> The candlesticks and bells, <br />The scarlet, brass, and badger's hair <br /> Wherein our Honour dwells, <br />And straitly fence and strictly keep <br /> The Ark's integrity <br />Till Armageddon break our sleep . . . <br /> And, Hey then go we!<br /><br />Rudyard Kipling<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-song-of-the-old-guard/
