In Cornwall and Across the Sea :: :: University of Virginia Library

I rose at dawn and rising from the main
Beheld the three peaks of the famous rock
Which once withstood four years the surgeand shock
By sea and land of banded France and Spain.
Grim were the heights from which the red hot rain
Fell on the ships, igniting where it struck,
And grim the mighty cannon trained to block
The entrance to the straits. I looked again
And saw the keep a thousand years ago
Built by the Moor, with honourable scars
Inflicted on it in long Spanish wars
With Englishman and Arab. A proud glow
Thrilled me, beholding where my countrymen
So mightily endured, and not in vain.