Mr. Hugh J. Ward's novel War Memorial appeal plan, whereby every telephone subscriber will be asked to contribute, was enthusiastically launched at the Legacy Clubs luncheon yesterday. Each member of the club has been allotted ten pages of the telephone directory, and undertakes to appeal to all the subscribers whose names appear in his section. Hello! Do you remember, friend of mine, The promise we made long years ago? The sky was clouded then, and suns that shine On peaceful days, we hardly hoped to know Ever again. For your dear friends and mine, Had marched for victory - or anodyne. The Anzacs! It was scarcely then a word Familiar to our ears. But do you hear His voice - his precious voice come back to you Who rests today beside a coastline drear. Saying, "I did my little for a friend And - must we be forgotten in the end." Hello! When you pick up the phone today And hear - not as a favor but a right, That those who won for us the glorious day Shall not be shrouded in oblivious night: Is it a living voice that answers you, Or some lost friend that long ago you know? The Anzacs! Every man who has a hear Keeps there enshrined, an intimate, so dear. The memory of one who played his part That we, in peaceful days, might linger here - Living - And, selfishly, shall it be said We took the payment - and - forgot our dead? Hello! You in your office snugly squat, Pick up the 'phone: all safe in peaceful days. And suddenly, a voice long, long forgot Comes in an undertone, and, pleading says: "Do you forget us, digger? Is the cost So much ... so much, against all we lost?" The Anzacs! They are calling you today. A long-stilled voice mayhap, comes to your ear - A voice familiar, that perchance might say "Remember those whom once you held so dear." And, listening, don't forget, the man who seeks Remembrance ... Brother! 'Tis an Anzac speaks!
"C.J. Dennis" |
Copyright © Perry Middlemiss 2003-06 |