Salute (poem)

"Salute" is a poem by the Australian writer Sydney Elliott Napier. During World War I he served with the First Australian Imperial Force. The poem was written when Napier was assistant editor of The Sydney Mail^[1] and was first published in that paper on 21 April 1937.^[2]

Use of the poem[]

In 2014 "Salute" was recited at the Dawn Service at the Sydney Cenotaph in Martin Place by the Minister for Veterans Affairs, Victor Dominello.^[3] In 2019 the poem was recited by the Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian.^[4][5]

Text of poem[]

Soldier statue on the Sydney Cenotaph where "Salute" has been recited at each Dawn Service since 2014.

YOU who have lov'd will remember
The sound of their farewell cheers
Soothing, but never arresting,
The march of your natural fears:
You who have lov'd will remember
The glow of their glad young years,
As you stand to-day to salute them —
In silence, with pride and with tears.

Out of the peace of the dawning
Into a fury of flame,
Up thro' the Valley of Shadow
To the light of the world they came,
And bright on the roll of the nations,
Broad on the banner of fame,
With the opulent blood of their youth-time
They painted Australia's name.

You who have lov'd, remember:
Tho' these whom you lov'd have died,
Tho' the wearying years move onward
And the ways of the world are wide;
Tho' Gallipoli's graves may hold them
And her whispering waters hide,
The years have no power to part you,
Nor the width of the world to divide;
And to-day, as you stand to salute them,
They, too, will be here, at your side!

References[]