Never Despair
(Sir Winston Churchill K.G. d. 25th January 1965)
The Spirit of our Age
Is now no more.
He has dispensed with our mortality
And joined again that God from Whom he came.
What words can tell
Those qualities which so distinguished him?.
Noble of visage, huge of intellect –
He was at once
Great leader, statesman, soldier, artist, wit,
Historian and sage –
True genius.
In one man’s frame
He represented all of humankind
And shewed himself well equal to the task.
When grim Adversity and Tyranny
Loomed grossly, horribly over the World
He fearlessly stood firm; he would not yield.
Our history he shaped;
Our faith he proved;
Our tarnished name he burnished till it shone
With greater glory than the desert sun.
Shall we then seek
Too often, or in vain, to find a character
So singularly large?.
How often shall we call in troubled times
Upon his memory,
Yet never may recall himself, who gave
Us all we prize today:
Freedom and Hope?.
Yet, if our nation should again
In dire misfortune stand alone,
His splendid life has taught us this:
“Never Despair!”.
For in the darkest hours of the night
A new dawn closer comes.
When most we need one
There may then arise
Another being worthy to be named
In every attribute and every sense,
‘Churchillian’.
