Poem - the first rays of the dawning sun shall touch its pillars

SGillK1438901v20007.jpg

Title

Poem - the first rays of the dawning sun shall touch its pillars

Description

Poem about lack of gravestones to mark resting place but memory does not fade. Continues lines about with Runnymede memorial. They would not be forgotten.

Creator

Language

Format

One page handwritten document

Rights

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

Contributor

Identifier

SGillK1438901v20007

Transcription

[underlined] Paul H. Scott [/underlined]

The first rays of the dawning sun shall touch its pillars
and as day advances and the light grows stronger
You shall read the names engraved on the stone
of those who sailed the angry skies and saw harbour no more

No gravestone in Yew's dark churchyard
shall mark their resting place
Their bones lie in the forgotten corners of earth and sea
But that we may not lose their memory with fading years
their monument stands here.

Here at the heart of England
Halfway between Royal Windsor and [deleted] Royal [/deleted] [inserted] Lordly [/inserted] London
Looking down here where the trees droop down to Runnymede
Meadow of Magna Carter
Field of freedom
Never saw you so fitting a memorial
Proof that the [deleted] members [/deleted] [inserted] numbers [/inserted] established here are still dear
to the hearts of men

Here now they stand contrasted and alike the
vale of Freedoms birth and the memorial of freedoms winning.

And as evening comes the mists like quiet ghosts rise
from the river bed and climb the hill to wander
through the cloisters
We shall not forget them
Above the mist we shall see the memorial still
and over it the crown and single star
and we shall pray as the mists rise up
and the [deleted] heart [/deleted] [inserted] air [/inserted] grows dark that we may wear
as brave a heart as they

Collection

Citation

Paul H Scott, “Poem - the first rays of the dawning sun shall touch its pillars,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed March 29, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/35623.

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