Far-called our navies melt away; On dune and headland sinks the fire: Lo, all our pomp of yesterday Is one with Nineveh and Tyre! Judge of the Nations, spare us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget.
This is from a poem called "Recessional" by Rudyard Kipling composed during Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1897. During this time the British Empire was probably at its height, and acted as a global policeman via control of the seas.
I placed this here because there is another empire in control of the high seas today that is similar to the old British Empire. Kipling's poem warns of becoming drunk with power - but what did he really mean ? After all, an empire could never form unless a group has become drunk with power to begin with.