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294
A SEA ENCOUNTER.
1758.
The gallant ships Southampton and Melampe brave the gale
In noble guise, as mutually they forth together sail,
With massive mast bent to the blast, and canvas full and free,
A stirring sight they seem—befitting well an English sea—
With many blithesome hearts on board as heedless and as gay
As if Life were merely made for mirth—nought save a holiday.
In noble guise, as mutually they forth together sail,
With massive mast bent to the blast, and canvas full and free,
A stirring sight they seem—befitting well an English sea—
With many blithesome hearts on board as heedless and as gay
As if Life were merely made for mirth—nought save a holiday.
And now, behold, off Yarmouth roads there burst upon their sight
Two Gallic frigates in full sail, which they resolve to fight.
The Melampe is the swifter barque, and fastest gains the foe,
Who to return her fusillade with interest are not slow—
So ere the crew of the Southampton reach the strife, they learn
In a distressed disabled state she has been forced astern;
Then, like a dastard, one French ship in dread doth steer away,
But madly the Southampton's guns upon the other play
Like monsters of destruction, who cannot brook delay.
Two Gallic frigates in full sail, which they resolve to fight.
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Who to return her fusillade with interest are not slow—
So ere the crew of the Southampton reach the strife, they learn
In a distressed disabled state she has been forced astern;
Then, like a dastard, one French ship in dread doth steer away,
But madly the Southampton's guns upon the other play
Like monsters of destruction, who cannot brook delay.
The French engage with reckless rage—the fight grows hour by hour,
Each vessel's crew, with purpose true, striving with passion's power;
Each seaman seeking still to keep the honour of his nation
By carrying mid the hostile ranks dire woe and desolation;
And the hissing roar of rushing shell and the blinding red-hot hail,
All demonstrate what dreadful force they now use to prevail.
Hour after hour thus passes swift in unremitting strife,
And of the French full eighty men have yielded up their life—
But as the sixth hour draweth on they suddenly give way,
Their falling flag proclaiming wide that they have lost the day.
Each vessel's crew, with purpose true, striving with passion's power;
Each seaman seeking still to keep the honour of his nation
By carrying mid the hostile ranks dire woe and desolation;
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All demonstrate what dreadful force they now use to prevail.
Hour after hour thus passes swift in unremitting strife,
And of the French full eighty men have yielded up their life—
But as the sixth hour draweth on they suddenly give way,
Their falling flag proclaiming wide that they have lost the day.
We trust such times as these shall ne'er again mar Britain's story,
Yet bravery, howe'er displayed, shall aye retain its glory.
Yet bravery, howe'er displayed, shall aye retain its glory.
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