Thanks to the gallant seven hundred—the
kings of the East,
Rulers of nations and tribesmen in number
as sand,
Men who have felt the high call to the greatest
That empire and honour shall stand—
Rajput and Gurkha and Sikh and the warrior
Pathan
—Sons of the hills and the plains who have
longed for the day
When, to seal a long pact that the rule of the
righteous began,
They should stand by our side in the fray;
Treasure they bring us, they bring us the spear
and the sword,
Yea, but they give greater gifts—they give
union and might,
—Sworn that the nation which vows and dis-
honours its word
Shall reel and sink back into night.
(The European War 1914-1915 Poems, p. 92)