Hurrah for merry England!

Hurrah for merry England !

For good Saint George hurrah !
For Richard of the Lion Heart,
The noble and the gay,
Returns from long captivity,
And 't is a festal day.

With chivalry and minstrelsy
The hours shall speed along,
Where meet the beauteous and the brave,
The gentle and the strong.

(I would my first had gazed upon
The gladly loyal throng.)
The warriors of Palestine,
Who led my second well
When on the ranks of Saladin
Like avalanche they fell,
Now in the tournament alone
A fancied foe repel.

The Saxon serf may lay aside
His clumsy third, I trow;
And leave it in the silent field,
With cool and sweatless brow ;
For what has he to do to-day
With weary spade and plough ?

But who is he, the Saxon youth,
With royal Saxon bride,
Who Saracen and Templar hath
He is my famous whole, I ween,
The valiant and the tried.