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Songs of Sea and Sail

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<h2>THE MAN-O'-WAR'S-MAN'S YARN.</h2> Down came the corvette on our weather; Then thundered our broadsides together. Thus thus we fought all day; And when the sun set and evening spread Across the East her mantle gray, Under our lee she lay, Her decks a mass of dead. Yet at her splintered foremast head Her ensign laughed, Lifting and flapping in the draft, Scorning our shot to bring it down. Our Captain eyed it with a frown To hide his admiration— Hero himself, he heroes knew, Tho' children of a hated nation. Then to his weary blood-stained crew [Pg 50] He cried:— "To your guns once more And let our broadside roar!" Then hot and close we plied Her with shot that tore Her fore and aft; Yet still that crimson banner laughed— Yet still her broken, bleeding men Gave back our cheers again. We would have spared them then; As with fierce and flashing eyes, With eyes aflame with pride, We looked upon a foe Who for twelve hot hours defied A vessel twice her size. But Fate thrust in a bloody fist And gave our hearts a devilish twist. A random shot that hit our rail Came from her foremost gun, And flying in the splinter hail Struck down the one Whose voice had shaped and cheered the fray [Pg 51] Thro' all that mad and murderous day. He fell; and for a space we stood As though our smoke-grimed forms had turned to wood, The victims of some deadly spell. Silence—save for the feverish groans of they Who, writhing, dying lay— Was over all; then suddenly there burst a yell That would have shocked and staggered hell! Ah! you who sit with me to-night And talk of war, of might and right; Had you been there to see that fight, When, reeling down upon the wreck, We boarded, leaping on her deck, And mad with slaughter—mad and blind With blood of ours, aye, your own kind. We shot and cut, we slew The remnant of that dauntless crew; And when our pikes had struck the last Tore down that ensign from the mast. Had you been there, I say, to see [Pg 52] That horror—but, enough for me To tell, we shuddered at the sight When in the chill that follows fight We gazed upon that slaughter pen And knew those things as fellow-men. With feverish haste we cleared the deck, Then fired the slowly sinking wreck, And cutting loose stood off astern, And watched her spar and topsides burn Till suddenly a blinding flash; A roar. Silence. Here—there—a splash And all was o'er. We filled our yard, Though leaking much and laboring hard Stood up for port, and made at last The harbor's light. But ho! avast With tales like this; they breed a thirst— Another glass—my throat is curs'd With fire. Here's to the gallant tar Who talks of peace, yet longs for war; Who lives to see his ship again Dispute the glory of the main, And man for man, and gun for gun, [Pg 53] Meet such another dauntless one. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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