France for her southern borders fearing spared the aggressor.Sri Aurobindo
Collected Poems
CWSA.- Volume 2
Part Seven. Pondicherry
Incomplete Poems from
Manuscripts, c. 1927 – 1947
Hail to the fallen
Hail to the fallen, the fearless! hail to the conquered, the noble!
I out of ancient India great and unhappy and deathless,
I in a loftiest1 nation though subject born, salute thee,
Thou too great and unfortunate! All is not given by Nature
Only to Force and the strong and the violent. Courage and wisdom,
Steadfast will and the calm magnificent dream of thy spirit
Crown thee for ever, O Emperor! Fiercely by Destiny broken,
Cast2 from thy throne and defeated, forsaken, a wandering exile,
Far from the hills of thy land and thy fallen and vanquished nation,
Yet has thy glory overtopped and the deathless pride of thy laurel
Conquered the conqueror’s, Haile Selassie, Lion of Judah.
France for her southern borders fearing spared the aggressor.
England the sea-queen, England the fortunate, England the victor
Fled like a dog from the whip of his3 menace yelping for succour,
Loudly to Frank and to Greek and to Turk and to Yugoslav calling
“Help me! I dare not alone; he will shatter my fleet and my empire,”
You did not cower, O African4 people, you did not tremble.
Armed but with rifle and spear you fronted the legions of Caesar.
*
Statesman wise and beneficent, emperor, patriot, hero,
King of the Amharas5, Haile Selassie, Lion of Judah.
Man6 is but man and the weapons of Hell are too fierce for his spirit,
Forged by the scientist burrowing deep in the bowels of Nature,
Death and destruction to draw from her torn from her anguished entrails,
Death for his kind, the destruction of earth and her high-aiming peoples,
Engines for Satan to handle, tools for the mischief of Ate.
Earlier edition of this work: Sri Aurobindo Birth Century Library: Set in 30 volumes.- Volume 5.- Collected Poems.- Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Asram, 1972.- 625 p.
1 Tentative reading (Note from the edition of 1972 year.)
2 1972 ed. SABCL, vol.5: Hurled
(Cast — as variant in footnotes)
3 1972 ed. SABCL, vol.5: the
4 1972 ed. SABCL, vol.5: African
5 1972 ed. SABCL, vol.5: Sahavas
6 These last five lines are absent in the edition of 1972 year.