Our Debt of Honour [poem by L. E. H., 11 March 1921]

[Editor: This poem by L. E. Homfray was published in the Darling Downs Gazette (Toowoomba, Qld.), 11 March 1921.]

Our Debt of Honour.

They died to guard our honour,
They died that we might live,
And we, in very honour,
Our humble homage give.
They left their home and country,
And all that men hold dear,
To face for us the battle
Triumphant over fear.

For us they bore hell’s horrors,
For us they fought and died,
And we? Could we forget them
Or coldly turn aside?
When we refuse to honour
The men who set us free,
God’s blessing shall forsake us,
Earth’s riches worthless be.

When we forget those heroes,
When we withhold our hand,
May shame be ours forever,
All shame on this our land.
And so we yield them homage
Upon this solemn day,
And to those men of Anzac
Our debt of honour pay.

L. E. H.

Source:
Darling Downs Gazette (Toowoomba, Qld.), 11 March 1921, p. 3

Also published in:
Logan & Albert Bulletin (Southport, Qld.), 12 March 1921, p. 2
Pittsworth Sentinel (Pittsworth, Qld.), 16 March 1921, p. 2
The Beaudesert Times (Beaudesert, Qld.), 18 March 1921, p. 6
The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts (Barcaldine, Qld.), 19 March 1921, p. 15
The Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld.), 22 March 1921, p. 10
The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld.), 2 April 1921, p. 44
The Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld.), 14 April 1921, p. 2
Dalby Herald and Record (Dalby, Qld.), 15 April 1921, p. 3
The Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld.), 25 April 1921, p. 3
The Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld.), 26 April 1921, p. 3 (within an article on Anzac Day)