 | Songs of two centuries |  |
113
GRIDLEY.
Captain Charles E. Gridley, Commander of Dewey's flagship, was noted as having fired the first shot in the great harbor-battle in Manila. He died of a fever, soon after winning his honors. The author knew him from boyhood, and his struggles to reach the proud position that he held at the time of his death.
Captain Charles E. Gridley, Commander of Dewey's flagship, was noted as having fired the first shot in the great harbor-battle in Manila. He died of a fever, soon after winning his honors. The author knew him from boyhood, and his struggles to reach the proud position that he held at the time of his death.
Not till the fight was done,
Not till the last fierce gun
Startled the wave,
Didst thou, at Death's low call,
Turning thy back to all,
Sail for the grave.
Not till the last fierce gun
Startled the wave,
Didst thou, at Death's low call,
Turning thy back to all,
Sail for the grave.
Glory withheld till now
Gleamed on thy modest brow,
'Mid plaudits grand;
Warrior of ocean, we
Waited with wreaths for thee
In thine own land.
Gleamed on thy modest brow,
'Mid plaudits grand;
Warrior of ocean, we
Waited with wreaths for thee
In thine own land.
Those that thou lovedst were here,
Yearning till thou was near
To tell their pride;
Through many an ocean-storm,
Hearts ever fond and warm
Sailed by thy side.
Yearning till thou was near
To tell their pride;
Through many an ocean-storm,
Hearts ever fond and warm
Sailed by thy side.
True as they ship's good steel,
Hiding, with Spartan zeal,
The murderous pain,
In ocean's grandest fight
Thy hand was first to smite
The brow of Spain.
Hiding, with Spartan zeal,
The murderous pain,
In ocean's grandest fight
Thy hand was first to smite
The brow of Spain.
Firmer than mountain-rocks
That breast the storm-cloud shocks—
With courage proud
Didst thou on fury's track
Iron thunderbolts hurl back,
And rend the cloud.
That breast the storm-cloud shocks—
With courage proud
114
Iron thunderbolts hurl back,
And rend the cloud.
Not till thy fame's bright star
Had pierced the mists of war,
And glittered high,
Did thy choice spirit turn,
And, higher rank to earn,
Seek the blue sky.
Had pierced the mists of war,
And glittered high,
Did thy choice spirit turn,
And, higher rank to earn,
Seek the blue sky.
| Songs of two centuries | |