POEMS OLD AND NEW
- And there lay them safe and sound ;
And if one ship misbehave,
.—Keel so much as grate the ground.
Why, IVe nothing but my life,—here's my head ! "
cries Herve Riel.
Not a minute more to wait.
" Steer us in, then, small and great !
Take the helm, lead the line, save the squadron !9J
cried its chief.
<e Captains, give the sailor place !
He is Admiral, in brief.5'
Still the north-wind, by God's grace ! 10
See the noble fellow's face,
As the big ship with a bound,
Clears the entry like a hound,
Keeps the passage as its inch of way were the wide
seas profound !
See, safe thro' shoal and rock,
How they follow in a flock,
Not a ship that misbehaves, not a keel that grates the
ground,
Not a spar that comes to grief!
The peril, see, is past,
All are harboured to the last, 20
And just as Herve Riel hollas " Anchor ! "—sure as
fate
Up the English come, too late !
So, the storm subsides to calm :
They see the green trees wave
On the o'erlooking Greve.
Hearts that bled are stanched with balm.
" Just our rapture to enhance,
Let the English rake the bay,
Gnash their teeth and glare askance,
As they cannonade away ! 30
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