Sacrifice!

Once every little while some Arctic waste,
   Some arid desert yields a fateful tale
Charged first with bitterness that all men taste
   When tidings come of venturers' who fail --
Who fail, and failing die, their goal unwon,
Their dream unrealised, their task undone.

Yet do they fail? Is bitterness alone --
   Is grief and vain regret our only dower?
Now in the desert has a seed been sown
   That soon shall burgeon to a splendid flower --
The bloom eternal of a nation's pride
   In men who dared and died as such men died.

Here is another altar, where men kneel
   To glean new greatness for a nation's soul.
And, as the passing-bell gives out its peal,
   Fate's hand moves on to add unto the roll --
While the Te Deum sounds its deep "Amen" --
The glorious roll of gallant gentlemen.