In Hearts of Oak

In hearts of oak our nation’s fate

rests safely where the oak, sedate

and rooted deep in British soil,

gives youth his nurture from the spoil

extracted from that prime estate.

We breed them, train them and gestate

their latent manhood. And at stake

their youthful innocence despoiled

In hearts of oak.

What countless lives have stoked the hate

of tribes and nations! Cain’s debate

stretched out through ages. Death and toil

of tender youth caught in the coil

of seeking peace through war’s constraint.

In hearts of oak.