Brian Patten - Liverpool Poet wrote this poem for English Heritage. I have always enjoyed his poetry right back to school days with my copy of the 'iconic' Mersey Sound produced by Penguin Books ( 1967) by Brian Patten, Adrian Henri and Roger McGough
THE TRUE DRAGON
St George was out walking
He met a dragon on a hill,
It was wise and wonderful
Too glorious to kill
It slept amongst the wild thyme
Where the oxlips and violets grow
Its skin was a luminous fire
That made the English landscape glow
Its tears were England’s crystal rivers
Its breath the mist on England’s moors
Its larder was England’s orchards,
Its house was without doors
St George was in awe of it
It was a thing apart
He hid the sleeping dragon
Inside every English heart
So on this day let’s celebrate
England’s valleys full of light,
The green fire of the landscape
Lakes shivering with delight
Let’s celebrate St George’s Day,
The dragon in repose;
The brilliant lark ascending,
The yew, the oak, the rose
© Brian Patten 2008
Why not join me and raise a pint in honour of St George today and toast his memory?
And for all countries for whom St George is a much loved saint
from the Collect for 23rd April – Common Worship – Church of England
George – martyr, patron of England c. 304
God of hosts
Who so kindled the flame of love
In the heart of his servant George
That he bore witness to the risen Lord
By his life and by his death:
Give us the same faith and power of love
That we who rejoice in his triumphs
May come to share with him the fullness of the resurrection
through Jesus Christ our Lord
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