What have I done for you

Quote byWilliam Ernest Henley · 1849–1903

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Poems (1898), "Rhymes and Rhythms", XXV.

English (original)

What have I done for you, England, my England? What is there I would not do, England, my own?

— William Ernest Henley

Life is (I think) a blunder and a shame.

From the winter's gray despair, From the summer’s golden languor, Death, the lover of Life, Frees us for ever.

Ho! then, the splendour And sheen of my ministry, Clothing the earth With a livery of lightnings! Ho! then, the music Of battles in onset

Hark how the Trumpet, The mistress of mistresses, Calls, silver-throated And stern, where the tables Are spread, and the work Of the Lord is in hand!

Far in the stillness a cat Languishes loudly. A cinder Falls, and the shadows Lurch to the leap of the flame.

Bland as a Jesuit, sober as a hymn.