Saint George's Day Soliloquy Poem by Martin Ward

On Saint George's Day,
I always wonder why
so many other Patron Saints
are venerated to a greater extent
than our own Saint George.
Saint Patrick's Day is massive in Ireland,
the USA (New York especially)
and all around the world.
Similarly, the Scots love Saint Andrew,
and Saint David is venerated
by Welsh people, Christian or not.
The English seem more reticent.
Could it be because they do not believe
in dragons being slayed,
or that a man from Turkey (maybe)
or certainly somewhere in the middle-east
should be a saint of dark satanic mills?

I'm on your side Saint George.

He was real alright, but the dragon story
was added about 500 years after he died
to represent the victory of good over evil.
George was named after his father Gerontius:
a noble name that drifts my thoughts
to Saint John Henry Newman,
whose dream in poetic form
fired Elgar's great gift of music.
George: a Praetorian Guard; military man
from a solid Christian family:
not everything the Romans would want.
Holding such a prestigious post,
the Emperor would expect
George to recant his faith on pain of death.
But he would not: choosing
to follow His Saviour's path.
That great empire, now turned to earthly dust,
yet amidst its ruinous grandeur
stands The Holy See:
a testimony to the triumph of God
over adversity and persecution.
Here in Derby, we can scratch the earth
of our own city and turn up coins and pottery
from the time the Romans ruled.

I give a variation on a greater voice:
'Here's to England and Saint George.'