ENGLAND hails thee with emotion, Mightiest child of naval art, Heaven resounds thy welcome! Ocean Takes thee smiling to his heart. Giant oaks of bold expansion O'er seven hundred acres fell, All to build thy noble mansion, Where our hearts of oak shall dwel. 'Midst those trees the wild deer bounded, Ages long ere we were born, And our great-grandfathers sounded Many a jovial hunting-horn. Oaks that living did inherit Grandeur from our earth and sky, Still robust, the native spirit. In your timbers shall not die. Ship to shine in martial story, Thou shalt cleave the ocean's path, Freighted with Britannia's glory And the thunders of her wrath. Foes shall crowd their sails and fly thee, Threatening havoc to their deck, When afar they first descry thee, Like the coming whirlwind's speck. Gallant bark! thy pomp and beauty Storm or battle ne'er shall blast, Whilst our tars in pride and duty Nail thy colors to the mast. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOLY CHRISTMAS by GEORGE HERBERT AFTER THE BURIAL by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL GARDEN DAYS: 2. NEST EGGS by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON TWO THINGS by AMIR MAHMUD IBN AMIR YAMINU'D-DIN TUGHRA'I LINES FOR THE HOUR by HAMILTON FISH ARMSTRONG MR. BARNEY MAGUIRE'S ACCOUNT OF THE CORONATION by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM STANZAS ON THE DEATH OF SIR SAMUEL ROMILLY by BERNARD BARTON |