Here is the dread land that the grey clouds sweep over,
Here the cathedral, here the summer shower;
Here the medieval, here the modern reigns over
An aching acre past its hour;
This is the round and utter West, the liberal West, the soulless realm,
This is the ultimate Occident, dreamed of by blue-eyed, cynical men.
Wonderful, wonderful land, first host of the grave of God,
A God that died, and went west;
We now accept your Gods, New World:
Lip-service sacrifice to holy Commerce.
With one eye on the hedonist future,
And one on the ruined past-
Between the Reich and Flanders Fields
We stand aghast: To turn and fan the flames
Of future parties, future games,
Clothed in paltry, borrowed hats
Purchased from bankers and bureaucrats.
This was our world but we let it go,
Our nation, our empire, in one throw,
Of an idiot die to the world below.
That was the world that was, it's over, let it go.
O what a world it was, it's over, let it go.
