History & Politics

Song from "King Arthur" (Come, if you dare, our trumpets sound)

by John Dryden 1631–1700

History & Politics

Come, if you dare, our trumpets sound;
Come, if you dare, the foes rebound:
We come, we come, we come, we come,
Says the double, double, double beat of the thundering drum.
Now they charge on amain,
Now they rally again:
The gods from above the mad labour behold,
And pity mankind, that will perish for gold.
The fainting Saxons quit their ground,
Their trumpets languish in the sound:
They fly, they fly, they fly, they fly;
Victoria, Victoria, the bold Britons cry.
Now the victory's won,
To the plunder we run:
We return to our lasses like fortunate traders,
Triumphant with spoils of the vanquish'd invaders.

MLA

Dryden, John. “Song from "King Arthur" (Come, if you dare, our trumpets sound).” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/dryden/72/.

Chicago

Dryden, John. “Song from "King Arthur" (Come, if you dare, our trumpets sound).” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/dryden/72/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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