Much as I have always liked Newbolt's poem, Vitai Lampada, I have never bestirred myself to bother with the title. A little investigation reveals that Vitaï Lampada is the torch of life and is from Lucretius'
On the Nature of Things. Specifically it refers to lines 75-79 of Book II:
Augescunt aliae gentes, aliae minuuntur,
inque brevi spatio mutantur saecla animantum
et quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt.
Which translates as (from Sir Ronald Melville's translation published by the Folio Society, 2003):
Some races increase, others fade away,
And in short space the breeds of living creatures
Change, and like runners pass on the torch of life.
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