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35

223   Would you hear of an old-fashion'd sea-fight?
Would you learn who won by the light of the moon      and stars?
List to the story as my grandmother's father, the      sailor, told it to me.

71

224   Our foe was no skulk in his ship, I tell you, (said he;)
His was the surly English pluck — and there is no      tougher or truer, and never was, and never will      be;
Along the lower'd eve he came, horribly raking us.
225  We closed with him — the yards entangled — the      cannon touch'd;
My captain lash'd fast with his own hands.
226  We had receiv'd some eighteen-pound shots under      the water;
On our lower-gun-deck two large pieces had burst at      the first fire, killing all around, and blowing up      overhead.
227  Fighting at sun-down, fighting at dark;
Ten o'clock at night, the full moon well up, our leaks      on the gain, and five feet of water reported;
The master-at-arms loosing the prisoners confined in      the after-hold, to give tem a chance for them-     selves.
228  The transit to and from the magazine is now      stopt by the sentinels,
They see so many strange faces, they do not know      whom to trust.
229  Our frigate takes fire ;
The other asks if we demand quarter?
If our colors are struck, and the fighting is done?
230  Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my      little captain, (says my grandmother's father ;)
We have not struck, he composedly cries, we have just      begun our part of the fighting.

72

231   Only three guns are in use ;
One is directed by the captain himself against the      enemy's main-mast ;
Two, well served with grape and canister, silence his      musketry and clear his decks.
232  The tops alone second the fire of this little battery,      especially the main-top ;
They hold out bravely during the whole of the action.
233  Not a moment's cease ;
The leaks gain fast on the pumps — the fire eats toward      the powder-magazine ;
One of the pumps has been shot away — it is generally      thought we are sinking.
234  Serene stands the little captain ;
He is not hurried — his voice is neither high nor low ;
His eyes give more light to us than our battle-     lanterns.
235  Toward twelve at night, there in the beams of the      moon, they surrender to us.