Rudyard Kipling - France At War & On the Frontier of Civilization

Poem: France I. On the Frontier of Civilization II. The Nation's Spirit and a New Inheritance III. Battle Spectacle and a Review IV. The Spirit of the People V. Life in Trenches on the Mountain Side VI. The Common Task of a Great People

FRANCE AT WAR On the Frontier of Civilization

FRANCE* BY RUDYARD KIPLING

Broke to every known mischance, lifted over all By the light sane joy of life, the buckler of the Gaul, Furious in luxury, merciless in toil, Terrible with strength that draws from her tireless soil, Strictest judge of her own worth, gentlest of men's mind, First to follow truth and last to leave old truths behind-- France beloved of every soul that loves its fellow-kind.