We do not like to own it, We wish it were not so; It's useless to bemoan it, Or hide what all may know: That we're not in the gravy, That still our fortune's full, We owe the British Navy By grace of Johnny Bull. We count our golden dollars, We count our bags of grain, -- They'd all wear German collars If William ruled the main. Poor Russia is a slavey, Poor Belgium is a hell; Without the British Navy Their fate were ours as well. That we are our own masters And hold our banner high, That infinite disasters Have passed our nation by, That still in progress wavy Our skiff of state we pull, We owe the British Navy: Hurrah for Johnny Bull! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET: 1 by CHARLES HAMILTON SORLEY THE ARGONAUTS (ARGONATUICA): JASON'S SOWING AND REAPING by APOLLONIUS RHODIUS SONNET: LOVE'S DEPTH by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON SONG OF THE DESERT LARK by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT ARS GUBERNANDI by CHARLES WILLIAM BRODRIBB |