My Son

Robert William Service

I must not let my boy Dick down,
          Knight of the air.
With wings of light he won renown
          Then crashed somewhere.
To fly to France from London town
          I do not dare.

Oh he was such a simple lad
          Who loved the sky;
A modern day Sir Galahad,
          No need to die:
Earthbound he might have been so glad,
          Yet chose to fly.

I ask from where his courage stemmed?
          I’ve never flown;
Air-travel I have oft condemned,—
          Now I’m alone,
Yet somehow hold the bright belief
          God gave his brief.

So now I must live up to him
          Who won on high
A lustre time will never dim;
          Though coward I,
Let me revere till life be done
          My hero son.

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