Explore "Verses and Sonnets" by Hilaire Belloc on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The soldier month, the bulwark of the year, / That never more shall hear such victories told; / He stands apparent with his heaven-high spear, / And helmeted of grand Etruscan gold. / Our harvest is the bounty he has won, / The loot his fiery temper takes by strength. / Oh! Paladin of the Imperial sun! / Oh! crown of all the seasons come at length!
This is sheer manhood; this is Charlemagne, / When he with his wide host came conquering home / From vengeance under Roncesvalles ta'en. / Or when his bramble beard flaked red with foam / Of bivouac wine-cups on the Lombard plain, / What time he swept to grasp the world at Rome.