[Intro] Beneath this ancient oak I take my seat, Where churchyard grasses stir in summer’s breath; Its shadow falls like benediction sweet, And all my heart grows quiet, hushed from death. Old friend of earth—what hast thou witnessed here? [Verse 1] Hast thou beheld the sea-wolves on the tide, When Northmen came with iron, flame, and oar, And Dane-law stood—a kingdom cleft and wide— Where English hearths were not their own before? Then Normandy’s bright banner crossed the hill, And William’s sword made law of force and will. [Chorus] Oh, Hold the past in view, For what hath been, what hath been may yet be born anew. Oh, remember, remember—what pride and fury do; Oh, let wiser days ensue. The years are leaves, yet roots lie deep and true: Oh, let time make sense of you. [Verse 2] Hast thou heard the bells grow hoarse with plague-born dread, When pestilence went whispering lane by lane, And households knelt where last warm prayers were said, Yet morning rose on emptied field and plain? Then roses bled where noble banners waved, And kin drew steel where kindly hands once saved. [Chorus] Oh, Hold the past in view, For what hath been, what hath been may yet be born anew. Oh, remember, remember—what pride and fury do; Oh, let wiser days ensue. The years are leaves, yet roots lie deep and true: Oh, let time make sense of you. [Bridge] Hast thou watched brave keels seek out the world’s far rim, When charts were dreams and seas were sermons wide, And wonder drew men onward, fierce and dim, To name new coasts beneath the selfsame watching sky? Now steam awakes, and iron roads unfurl— A thinking age to bless, or break, the world. [Chorus 2] Oh, now the power is thine, To raise the light, raise the light, or make it more malign. Oh, remember, remember—knowledge cuts in two: It builds, it burns—its end depends on you. Oh, remember, remember—knowledge cuts in two: Its end depends on you.
