“THIS IS THE HOUR”

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 13137, 11 September 1940, Page 1

“THIS IS THE HOUR”

A CALL to the people OF THE EMPIRE The people of England have answered the challenge, of this there is no doubt. They stand Ann in their resolve and united to a man. In the far corners of the Empire, too, men are answering the challenge, but have we yet that great unity, do we in New Zealand yet stand as one man ? > The words of Pericles to the Athenians have been used by one writer who says if the war goes on we will be driven back to the great things in literature with their gi'andeur and their strength:-; “Freedom is the possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it.” And the second contribution is a poem, a challenge and trumpet call to the people of England: The adaptation is easy. For all of us “This is the Hour.” ; This is the hour when courage knows her own, When hearts grow stern that else were gay and warm, When men and women are themselves the stone That holds these islands scathless in the storm. This is the hour when pleasure is no more, Ease of the lovely field, the tree, the flower. Only the rocks, the long and valorous shore, The one unshaken heart. This is. the hour.