Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LAUNCH OF A FIRST-RATE; WRITTEN ON WITNESSING THE SPECTACLE, 1840, by THOMAS CAMPBELL


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THE LAUNCH OF A FIRST-RATE; WRITTEN ON WITNESSING THE SPECTACLE, 1840, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: England hails thee with emotion
Last Line: Nail thy colors to the mast.
Subject(s): Navy - Great Britain; Shipbuilding; English Navy


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.





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