The poetical works of William H. C. Hosmer :: :: University of Virginia Library

War furled his wing:—the Infidel
His ocean conquest dearly bought,
For in the hour of trial well
The sons of Israel had fought.
The cry, “our hold a leak has sprung!”
In them, though shroud in tatters hung,
And reeling deck was strewn with dead,
Had woke no unresisting dread.
Despair, in that appalling hour,
Had nerved the feeble frame with power,
And, with the strength of manhood, strung
The untried sinews of the young.
When the tall mainmast, like some oak,
Uprooted by the whirlwind, fell,
In stern defiance through the smoke
Had rang their battle yell.
Admiring Athens deified
Such children in her day of might,
And Fame inscribed their names, allied
To daring, with a look of pride,
Upon her tablets bright:
And worthy would have been such sons
Of Judah, when her mighty ones,
With Maccabæus in the van,
Smote down the vaunting Syrian;
Or in that hour when Jew of old
Proud Rome with desperation met,
While, red with slaughter, Kedron roll'd
And charging shouts shook Olivet.