The Sisters Buried at Lemnos was published in Brittain’s collection, Verses of a V.A.D. in 1918.
(โFidelis ad Extremumโ)
O golden Isle set in the deep blue Ocean,
With purple shadows flitting oโer thy crest,
I kneel to thee in reverent devotion
Of some who on thy bosom lie at rest!
Seldom they enter into song or story;
Poets praise the soldierโs might and deeds of War,
But few exalt the Sisters, and the glory
Of women dead beneath a distant star.
No armies threatened in that lonely station,
They fought not fire or steel or ruthless foe,
But heat and hunger, sickness and privation,
And Winterโs deathly chill and blinding snow.
Till mortal frailty could endure no longer
Diseaseโs ravages and climateโs power,
In body weak, but spirit ever stronger,
Courageously they stayed to meet their hour.
No blazing tribute through the wide world flying,
No rich reward of sacrifice they craved,
The only meed of their victorious dying
Lives in the hearts of humble men they saved.
Who when in light the Final Dawn is breaking,
Still faithful, though the worldโs regard may cease,
Will honour, splendid in triumphant waking,
The souls of women, lonely here at peace.
O golden Isle with purple shadows falling
Across thy rocky shore and sapphire sea,
I shall not picture these without recalling
The Sisters sleeping on the heart of thee!
H.M.H.S. โBritannic,โ Mudros,
October 1916.
