Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IN APIA BAY, by CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS Poet's Biography First Line: Ruin and death held sway Last Line: Of splendid chivalry and valor high! Subject(s): Apia Bay, Samoan Islands; Courage; Disasters; Hurricanes; Shipwrecks; Valor; Bravery | ||||||||
(Morituri vos salutamus) RUIN and death held sway That night in Apia Bay, And smote amid the loud and dreadful gloom. But, Hearts, no longer weep The salt unresting sleep Of the great dead, victorious in their doom. Vain, vain the strait retreat That held the fated fleet, Trapped in the two-fold threat of sea and shore! Fell reefs on either hand, And the devouring strand! Above, below, the tempest's deafening roar! What mortal hand shall write The horror of that night, The desperate struggle in that deadly close, The yelling of the blast, The wild surf, white, aghast, The whelming seas, the thunder and the throes! How the great cables surged, The giant engines urged, As the brave ships the unequal strife waged on! Not hope, not courage flagged; But the vain anchors dragged, Down on the reefs they shattered, and were gone! And now were wrought the deeds Whereof each soul that reads Grows manlier, and burns with prouder breath, -- Heroic brotherhood, The loving bonds of blood, Proclaimed from high hearts face to face with death. At length, the English ship Her cables had let slip, Crowded all steam, and steered for the open sea, Resolved to challenge Fate, To pass the perilous strait, And wrench from jaws of ruin Victory. With well-tried metals strained, In the storm's teeth she gained, Foot by slow foot made head, and crept toward life. Across her dubious way The good ship Trenton lay, Helpless, but thrilled to watch the splendid strife. Helmless she lay, her bulk A blind and wallowing hulk, By her strained hawsers only held from wreck, But dauntless each brave heart Played his immortal part In strong endurance on the reeling deck. They fought Fate inch by inch, -- Could die, but could not flinch; And, biding the inevitable doom, They marked the English ship, Baffling the tempest's grip, Forge hardly forth from the expected tomb. Then, with exultant breath, These heroes waiting death, Thundered across the storm a peal of cheers, -- To the triumphant brave A greeting from the grave, Whose echo shall go ringing down the years. "To you, who well have won, From us, whose course is run, Glad greeting, as we face the undreaded end!" The memory of those cheers Shall thrill in English ears Where'er this English blood and speech extend. No manlier deed comes down, Blazoned in broad renown, From men of old who lived to dare and die! The old fire yet survives, Here in our modern lives, Of splendid chivalry and valor high! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UNLESS IT WAS COURAGE by MARVIN BELL THE QUALITY OF COURAGE by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET ON THE OREGON COAST; FOR WILLIAM STAFFORD by ROBERT BLY WORDS WITH WALLACE STEVENS by ROBERT BLY BUFFALO CLOUDS OVER THE MAESTRO HOON by NORMAN DUBIE A SONG OF COURAGE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE AUDACIOUS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON OH, THE WATER by DORIANNE LAUX BROOKLYN BRIDGE by CHARLES GEORGE DOUGLAS ROBERTS |
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