September 20

VITAI LAMPADA
("They Pass On the Torch of Life")

There's a breathless hush in the Close tonight -

Ten to make and the match to win -

A bumping pitch and a blinding light,

An hour to play and the last man in.

And it's not for the sake of the ribboned coat,

Or the selfish hope of a season's fame,

But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote -

'Play up ! play up ! and play the game !'
------ 

The sand of the Desert is sodden red -

Red with the wreck of a square that broke; -

The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel's dead,

And the regiment's blind with dust and smoke.

The river of death has brimmed his banks,

And England's far, and Honour a name,

But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks:

'Play up ! play up ! and play the game !'
------ 

This is the world that year by year,

While in her place the school is set,

Every one of her sons must hear,

And none that hears it dare forget.

This they all with joyful mind

Bear through life like a torch in flame,

And falling fling to the host behind -

'Play up ! play up ! and play the game !'

--Sir Henry Newboldt
an early 20th century English poet

Written in 1897, the poem refers to how a future soldier learns stoicism in cricket matches in the famous Close at Clifton College.
 

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