GALLIPOLI Rust on the cannon, cobwebs on the drum The darkness passes and the day grows wise,

, Lo, from the South the rainbow riders come. And all the world is spread below their eyes! ewelled with dreams the flashing ocean lies. The !alleys crowd in shadowed mystery" #ut o!er all the pilgrim thought still flies, Racing the wind$s sob to %allipoli. &ere let the swift wings glide in e!en flight, #road'spread and silent through the re!erent sky. The windy plains of Troy ha!e passed in light, The Asian mountains fade and blue seas lie (ondled to )urope with a summer sigh. The great propeller$s dronings faint and cease Abo!e the little gra!es where heroes lie *hite crosses by white wa!es. Ah! Rest in peace, #ra!e hearts so young, yet not too young to die. *e ha!e forgotten nothing. *ing on wing #eats in the !an of our tumultuous days" Across the seas of &ea!en loud engines sing Their growing triumph up the airy ways" +ast deeds of blood'won peace the stars ama,e, And man is awed by man grown greater yet" #ut in that front of splendour, set abla,e #y Truth$s white flame, our souls dare not forget. -mperial force had met imperial will, Lightening had answered thunder" and the rain, Red and hate'dri!en, sto!e all lands to fill *ith a tempestuous agony of pain. -t seemed that earth was crucified in !ain Through all her noblest children (reedom wept, As .ary, for the hope of ages slain, And %od seemed dumb, and the great !engeance slept. This little path of water, winding blue, &ad other memories of other years. These rocks had heard the war'horns braying through The hosts of /ere0s whith his myriad spears %littered below Abydos, and strange fears Raced on all winds down the Thessalian pass, *ith presage of huge loss and widows tears To sound the challenge to Leonidas. 1f these scarred hills .iltiades was king" #y the brown sands perchance at e!e he strayed, .urmuring stern he0ameters that sing The %recian !alor that a poet made" And here, perchance, he dreamt that unafraid, &e too should walk where those great steps had gone, 2aring one epic hour while (reedom$s blade %rew red to !ictory at .arathon. .iltiades! Leonidas! The Soul 1f earth on torture cried on Liberty, 3&elp or we perish!4 And the thunder'roll 1f battle laughed aloud by land and sea,

*hile e!ermore some new Thermopylae 2renched with its tears of blood the trampled grass And new Three &undreds, dying to be free. -n falling saw the !aunting terror pass. Then through the darkness of a million woes Leonidas strode forth from mart and mine" (rom dreams and song .iltiades arose" And kings that reigned in labours oldest line Left the green field unploughed, the undressed !ine. And rushing to the tumult and the smoke .ade the red sacrifice by right dine As priests and prophets of Truth$s counterstroke. And some were near and some by far sweet seas &eard only the low rain of falling tears And wail of orphan !oices on the bree,e" #ut all untaught of war and war$s pale fears, They gathered to the trysting of the years To stand or fall by one eternal law That each, a freeman, strong among his peers, .ust follow to the death that good he saw. This little gate of water shining blue %uarded an ancient citadel of wrong. 2eep agony of man these bare rocks knew, And shuddering nations cried6 1h Lord, how long Shall this great e!il stand fear'girt and strong #ehind its bastions of guarded stone74 The 1ttoman, like discord in a song, *hen all who marched with truth stood false alone. 8ow, in the Armageddon of the world, (alse 9oined with false, and .urder marched with &ate. -nto the tumult, rank on rank were hurled The ancient foes of honor" and this gate %uarded with flame and rocks that stood like (ate Laughed a loud scorn of (reedom in her woe, -t was a day when e!il seemed too great, And triumph set red laurels on the foe. The gates was closed with flaming bolt and bar, #ut mighty were the hands of Truth set free. 1n the fields of blood, the crescent and the star .ight wa!e for dreams of barren !ictory -f skill and courage held the master key, These waters holding )ast and *est apart *ere as a dagger of the !engeful sea :ointed at the black world'treason$s bitter heart. 1h little waters gleaming in the sun! 1h barren hills where death lay hidden deep! The *ord was said" the web of (ate was spun" &ow many tears of pride were yet to weep7 The blue Aegean woke from age'long sleep. The great keels ploughed the foam in /er0es$ wake, And the remembering isles by scarp and steep Trembled and ga,ed until the storm should break. The dust of -lion heard the thundering 1f louder drums of war than &ector knew"

All -da in the mantle of the spring Lay hushed a thousand glens and thickets through At such strange music. The swart fisher crew Shuddered as, bolt on bolt, the missiles wailed 1!er <ape &elles from the outer blur Till silence fell and the great clamor failed. The clamor failed for the loudest knocking made 8o open path through the rock'guarded way, The watchers saw the great ships pass and fade (ar beyond Lemnos and the sea slept grey, *aiting, while bugle callings night and day Sang to far hosts of high ad!enture near. 8ot steel and fire, but deeds of man must say The password that %allipoli should hear. 8ow set (aith$s holy trumpet to the mouth 1f honor and send forth a louder blast! (or, low, they come! The !alor of the South, 2reamworthy of the future and the past, (iles on the crowded deck by hatch and mast And holds its dread in check with harsher pride. Australia$s hour has struck, the die is cast, And (ate site brooding on the burdened tide. -t is the hour when darkness draws to death, =nowing that con>uering light dri!es fast and near, 8ow runs the blood more slowly and the breath <hills at a whispered word to sudden fear. *hat shapes are these, what muffled sounds and drear The slow wa!es hear nor splash nor dip of oar" The formless capes their distant shadows near6' Speak low! An army gains, unseen the foeman$s shore. 8ot all unseen" or dawning come apace 1ut of the farful! )ast on the steep Are hurried warnings. The grey water$s face Tells all the secret as the !essels creep To the white line of beach. The swift fires sweep *ith crash and echo from the paling murk. &oarse shoutings answer. -n the rush and leap 2oom breaks and young Australia finds the Turk! -t was a deed for courage pro!ed and tried, ?et no man faltered in that deadly test. Swift was the onset. #attle loud and wide *oke with the morning. Lightnings from the crest 1f some far hill a steel'edged ruin prest 1n all the pathless ridges and loud flame 1n e!ery hand ga!e toiling 2eath no rest. ?oung blood wrote 3(aith4and the world read it 3(ame4! Apart, and scattered on the thirsty hills, #leeding and wearied to their task they stood, And laughed at pain amid a thousand ills. 8ot boasting, but in utter hardihood They faced the task of battle red and rude, And reckoning not of praise, or gain or pride. 1n those scared steeps they made their landing good, And stood to fight, or grimly fighting died.

And now the tumult swayed to 8orth and South" The days, the nights, the mountains stro!e with men, (or, fearless e!en at the cannon$s mouth, &ere perished one who matched his strength with ten" And here 2eath rioted in brake and glen Through weeks and months a sudden death that fell (rom a far sniper in his leaf'screened den 1r the chance call of some rock'rending shell. All days were days of pain" but some were red *ith !aster agonies, when heights unwon *ere challenged by the mo!ing hosts that spread A wider target for the distant gun. 1 proud heads held too high in cloud and sun, &ow great the price you paid for each strong deed That, daring greatly, left the task undone And gained from &onor but a barren meed! (ar off, at &elles, through the trampled !ines #ritain and %aul an une>ual courage shared, And dro!e the Turk beyond his iron lines And smote him down while the long hill'top flared. (ierce August, with her hot, red sword unbarred, #rought all her fe!ers in a cloud of woe" Tortured by flies, thirst'maddened, still they dared To snatch ad!antage from the >uailing foe. 8ow o!er Su!la the red tempests break, And in the dark ra!ines the death'fires shine. These hills were (reedom$s. <limb for (reedom$s sake That she may come again, erect, di!ine &ard are the lands that !ictory$s wreath would twine, &ard with the bitter toil of weary days" #ut hard that black trench at Lonesome :ine Thrice piled with death in all its crowded ways. &o shall men tear the solid earth apart To smite the foe strong'armed beneath their feet7 (rom rifts of rocks the crashing !olleys start" Abo!e, below, the storms of ruin meet And surge and stagger in a blinding heat Through bitter darkness. Last, the shoutings fail. The strife is done. The sullen, grim defeat The Turk shrinks back, and the strong men pre!ail. #ut not against the broad eternal hills That guard the narrow waters, steep and shore, Arms against arms, wills against eager wills. Australia$s sons were masters" but the door Stood bared with stone. <hill winter, black and hoar, #low a loud horn across the waters grey" And e!er as the gra!es grow more and more The hope of An,ac paled and passed away. And now men dreamed long dreams of peaceful days Ander green trees or by a summer stand, Saw the old home, the dear remembered ways, And sweet known places in a distant land. )ngland, Australia! Lo the death'fires spanned The circle of the earth from sea to sea! -n that strange loneliness hand sought for hand And grief made friendships on %allipoli

Steadfast of mind, but with an aching heart )ach faced the day but could bring him ill. &e needs must 9est less some slow tear should start And hot emotion o!erpower the will. &ow many were the comrades lying still Like that young singer with the morning face *ho ga!e, of faith, so much that he might fill A little gra!e in a forgotten place7 &earts broke of waiting that no steel could break" And hope was mute" and terror of no name *alked in the sun or in the dark would wake .ore awful than the fierce destroying flame That from the watchful hill fore!er came, <alling it !ictim out of toil or sleep. Long was the !igil. 2ay on day the same A watch with slow 2espair was theirs to keep. Through !aster storms of war that shook the lands. Their deeds li!e on" but men soon forget The suffering and the toil of willing hands -n sober ,eal in one great purpose set. The months gone grey with longing and regret, The sickness and the wounds, the empty place *hen silent comrades of wild !entures met, .issing the !oice, the laugh, the !anished face. 1h, glad with 9oy of life were those who sleep -n shallow gra!es beside the murmurous sea, And long and long the un!an>uished hills shall keep Their 9est with doom in >uiet memory. 8e!er had war heard mocking tongues so free #eneath the awful menace of his breath. These scorned him eye to eye, nor bent the knee To that red %lory that is kin to 2eath. Slowly, in darkness, mo!ed the silent ships #ack from the place of sacrifice made !ain. The doom was past. The world in black eclipse &ad other calls afar to other pain. 8ot here should (reedom find her throne again, Till in the *est her con>uering bugles blew. An,ac and Su!la. &ow the red flames wane! %allipoli is gone the world is new. %one! and the war roars on through storms of death, And reddened !alleys of a world$s despair, :ain at its heart, fear catching at its breath, *hile tears of widowed nations drown the air, <old horror chokes the sob that breaks the prayer, Till, on sudden, &ope of green of spring. .ounts on her holy wings, and e!erywhere The growing gladness has a song to sing. :eace! (or the *rong is broken in the field! :eace! (or the Truth is master o!er shame! The shattered armies of the foeman yield, 1utmatched by that stern !alor none could tame" And (reedom, splendid in her deeds and name, %one! And the war roars on though

*ar dies like some great sunset lit with flame. 8or wakes the sleepers at %allipoli. DDDDDDD. - know not what shall come of this seed sown, *hat fields of har!est wa!ing fair and wide, *hat resurrection morn with trumpets blown, *hat stone from (aith$s low tomb be rolled aside. #ut this - know" 8ot all in !ain they died *ho li!e till silence fall on tongue and pen The youth of young Australia crucified, The men who, of their manhood, died for men!
David McKee Wright :ublished in The Australian (riday April ;;, 5E;5 *inner of the Rupert Brook pri,e

)0tract from The Argus (Melbourne, +ic.F5GBG'5ECBH, .onday ; August 5E;I, page J

RA:)RT #R11=) :R-K).

*on by Sydney :oet. The Rupert #rooke literary pri,e of ;C guineas, which was instituted last year by the 1ld <ollegiansL Association of the :resbyterian LadiesL <ollege, .elbourne, in commemoration of peace, has been awarded to .r. 2a!id .c=ee *right, of Sydney, who is well known throughout the <ommonwealth as a writer of !erse. &e is of -rish birth, but has resided in Australia for many years. The pri,e was gi!en for a poem on the sub9ect of M%allipoli,M and one of the conditions laid down was that the work must be of not less than 5CI lines and not more than @II lines, in which respect it resembles the famous 8ewdigate pri,e awarded at 10ford, and won by many men who afterwards attained to great fame. The competition, which was announced in 8o!ember, 5E5E, and closed on .ay @5 last, was open to #ritish'born sub9ects in Australia and 8ew Kealand, and more than JI persons took part in it. (or a short poem there would undoubtedly ha!e been as many hundreds. The 9udges were :rofessor *allace and 2r. Archibald Strong, of the .elbourne Ani!ersity, and .r. 1liphant, president of the .elbourne Shakespeare Society. To them was reser!ed the right of declining to make any award, and it will be interesting to read their report of the >uality of the work submitted. -t is proposed by the 1ld <ollegiansL Association to award further pri,es for prose and plays.