  Andrew, what of the North? In November shadows drear We have heard thee marching forth With songs of a glad new year. Thou goest to mountains high, To Picts in a Northern fen— But, Andrew, tarry and hear the cry Of the little Southern Men. Down by the seas of Gaul, Where the Roman eagles stand, Anderida they call Our shaggy forest land. We have no saving health, To us no Word comes forth, On us the gods bestow no wealth— Yet Andrew goes to the North. Oh, stay and give us grace, For our hearts are grey with dule, As each man lifts his face In the dreadful days of Yule, When the burning Wheel stands still In the black and dropping skies, And the Long Man screams upon the hill With the human sacrifice. Our Druids tell sad tales, Our arms have lost their worth In the scrubby hills of Wales; But thy mighty banners go Forward and pass us by, As the Northern streamers fly and flow On the red wings of the sky. We hear strange tales of thee— We hear thou preachest still A Man more fair than Bald, a Tree More tall than Ygdrasyl, A Bread more strong than meat, Water more fierce than wine— Than the mead which drunken gods find sweet In the halls where Heroes dine.... To the little Southern Men Saint Andrew answered he: “I have heard from the Northern fen Your moan from the Gaulish sea; And though I pass you by, And may not see your face, Yet my Lord hath heard your cry, And He sends you hope of grace. “Three saints shall teach the land That lies by the Southern sea; Three saints on your shores shall stand— A thrice-noble company. Which to the Scots I send, Wilfred shall teach by the waves That beat on Manhood’s End. “On Havant’s drawling tide, Which round the island swells, The solemn ships shall glide To the chime of Richard’s bells: On Mayfield’s hills the iron Of Dunstan’s anvil rings As he hammers gates for Zion And fights Unholy Things. “So faint not—all is well, And the price of hope is paid By the Lord Who hath harrowed hell, And hath made the gods afraid. Eternity keeps the hours Till the Sussex Saints go forth— Wilfred and Richard and Dunstan are yours, But Andrew goes to the North.”
|
|
