The Storm Cone by Rudyard Kipling

Like most nations, we in the British Isles have a collective wisdom that derives from national identity and history. In the case of Great Britain, part of this is our long seafaring tradition. Rudyard Kipling captures some of that wisdom in his 1932 poem 'The Storm Cone'.  

As the euro zone storm continues to build, we should remember that the financial crisis blowing in from continental Europe will not recognised national boundaries any more than an Atlantic storm will stop when it reaches the English Channel.  All we can do is draw on the wisdom, insight and strength so brilliantly captured by Kipling.

This is the midnight-let no star
Delude us-dawn is very far.
This is the tempest long foretold-
Slow to make head but sure to hold

Stand by! The lull 'twixt blast and blast
Signals the storm is near, not past;
And worse than present jeopardy
May our forlorn to-morrow be.

If we have cleared the expectant reef,
Let no man look for his relief.
Only the darkness hides the shape
Of further peril to escape.

It is decreed that we abide
The weight of gale against the tide
And those huge waves the outer main
Sends in to set us back again.

They fall and whelm. We strain to hear
The pulses of her labouring gear,
Till the deep throb beneath us proves,
After each shudder and check, she moves!

She moves, with all save purpose lost,
To make her offing from the coast;
But, till she fetches open sea,
Let no man deem that he is free!

Good Luck and Best Wishes to you all.
Will