Le Brave Chevalier.
[A Tribute to Lieut. R. M. G. Brown.]
Amid the hiss of waters seething,
And roar of winds aloft,
The lightning 'round them wreathing,
And thunderbolts so oft,
Rode the gallant ship, the Trenton,
With her sails all limp and low,
And Cadet Richard Jackson
Standing at the vessel's bow.
And roar of winds aloft,
The lightning 'round them wreathing,
And thunderbolts so oft,
Rode the gallant ship, the Trenton,
With her sails all limp and low,
And Cadet Richard Jackson
Standing at the vessel's bow.
One by one the good ships battled
With the rage of tempest stern;
As Heaven's artillery rattled,
Every heart for home did yearn.
In Apia's reef-filled harbor
Tossed the crafts like children's toys,
Or leaves from vine-clad arbor,
Drifting out from Nature's joys.
With the rage of tempest stern;
As Heaven's artillery rattled,
Every heart for home did yearn.
In Apia's reef-filled harbor
Tossed the crafts like children's toys,
Or leaves from vine-clad arbor,
Drifting out from Nature's joys.
One by one the good ships vanished,
With their freight of human souls,
While the cries from stout hearts banished
All their hopes—the wild bells tolled.
Black the decks with beings thronging,
Clinging hard to rope or mast,
Each with eye uplifted, longing
For the day to break at last.
With their freight of human souls,
While the cries from stout hearts banished
All their hopes—the wild bells tolled.
Black the decks with beings thronging,
Clinging hard to rope or mast,
Each with eye uplifted, longing
For the day to break at last.
—44—
