I
The sun is set on the Empire,
Pillow breakers go back to their beds,
Mothers sing lullabies to their sons,
While fathers haste to the pubs.
All but one, all but the mourning wake,
Swallow their pride and forget.

II
The sun is set on the Empire,
Soldiers lie dead, no grave to mark,
White smoke rises far in the Eastern sands,
No one now dares play the forsaken lyre,
None dare wander freely in the night,
The moon shines through the bloody tides.

III
The sun is set on the Empire,
The sword no longer shimmers nor prevails,
The shield’s splintered, the flag’s torn,
The dust of a fleeting cavalry is all that remains.
Stranded fathers seek for their sons, lost in the mist,
They have let them to die, to conquer the East.

IV
The sun is set on the Empire,
The Throne’s crumbled into the battering sea,
The Crown’s been shaken by the heathen fire,
By the Freedom chimes, the slaves who now aspire
What has always been theirs, none to take it now,
None to tread their voices, none to seize their lands.