O STEALTHILY-CREEPING Merrimac, Hush low your fiery breath; You who gave life to ships of strife Are sailing unto your death! -- "I am ready and dressed for burial, Beneath the Cuban wave; But still I can fight for God and right, While resting in my grave!" O men that are sailing the Merrimac, Your hearts are beating high; But send a prayer through the smoking air, To your Captain in the sky! -- "We know there is death in every breath, As we cling to the gunless deck; And grand will be our voyage, if we Can make of our ship a wreck!" Now drop the bower of the Merrimac, And swing her to the tide. Now scuttle her, braves, and bid the waves Sweep into her shattered side! -- "Through a flying hell of shot and shell, We passed Death, with a sneer; We wrenched our life from a novel strife, And even our foemen cheer!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HIGH PLAINS RAG by JAMES GALVIN A CELEBRATION by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THE DEATH OF AUTUMN by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY LOVE AND AGE by THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK DEAD MAN'S DUMP by ISAAC ROSENBERG LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY HEART AND MIND by EDITH SITWELL NATIONAL ODE; INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA by BAYARD TAYLOR |