HERVE RIEL
—A Captain ? A Lieutenant ? A Mate—first;, second,
third ?
No such man of mark, and meet
With his betters to compete 1
But a simple Breton sailor pressed by Tourville for
the fleet,
A poor coasting-pilot he, Herve Kiel the Croisick-
ese.
And, " What mockery or malice have we here ? "
cries Herve Riel :
" Are you mad, you Malouins ? Are you cowards,
fools, or rogues ?
Talk to me of rocks and shoals, me who took the
soundings, tell
On my fingers every bank, every shallow, every
swell
'Twixt the offing here and Greve where the river
disembogues ? i o
Are you bought by English gold ? Is it love the
lying's for ?
Morn and eve, night and day,
Have I piloted your bay,
Entered free and anchored fast at the foot of
Solidor.
Burn the fleet and ruin France ? That were worse
than fifty Hogues !
Sirs, they know I speak the truth ! Sirs, believe
me there's a way !
Only let me lead the line,
Have the biggest ship to steer,
Get this Formidable clear,
Make the others follow mine, 20
And I lead them, most and least, by a passage I
know well,
Right to Solidor past Greve,
55