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MAWGAN OF MELHUACH, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Twas a fierce night when old mawgan died
Last Line: Gleam'd the red sail at pitch of night.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hawker Of Morwenstow; Hawker, R. S.


'TWAS a fierce night when old Mawgan died,
Men shudder'd to hear the rolling tide:
The wreckers fled fast from the awful shore,
They had heard strange voices amid the roar.

"Out with the boat there," some one cried, --
"Will he never come? we shall lose the tide:
His berth is trim and his cabin stor'd,
He's a weary long time coming on board."

The old man struggled upon the bed:
He knew the words that the voices said;
Wildly he shriek'd as his eyes grew dim,
"He was dead! he was dead! when I buried him."

Hark yet again to the devilish roar,
"He was nimbler once with a ship on shore;
Come! come! old man, 't is a vain delay,
We must make the offing by break of day."

Hard was the struggle, but at the last,
With a stormy pang old Mawgan past,
And away, away, beneath their sight,
Gleam'd the red sail at pitch of night.





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