Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ON THE BRITISH BLOCKADE, AND EXPECTED ATTACK ON NEW YORK - 1814, by PHILIP FRENEAU Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Old neversink, with bonnet blue Last Line: And cockburn miss a handsome plunder. Subject(s): Naval Blockades; Navy - United States; New York City - War Of 1812; War Of 1812; American Navy | ||||||||
Old Neversink, with bonnet blue, The present times may surely rue When told what England means to do. Where from the deep his head he rears The din of war salutes his ears, That teased him not for thirty years. With tents I see his mountain spread, The soldier to the summit led, And cannon planted on his head: From Shrewsbury beach to Sandy Hook The country has a martial look, And Quakers skulk in every nook. What shall be done in such a case? We ask again with woeful face, To save the trade and guard the place? Where mounted guns the porte secure, The cannon at the embrasure, Will British fleets attempt to moor? Their feelings are alive and sore For what they got at Baltimore, When, with disgrace, they left the shore, And will revenge it, if they can, On town and country, maid and man And all they fear is Fulton's plan; Torpedoes planted in the deep, Whose blast may put them all to sleep, Or ghostify them at a sweep. Another scheme, entirely new, Is hammering on his anvil too, That frightens Christian, Turk, and Jew. A frigate meant to sail by steam! How can she else but torture them, Be proof to all their fire and flame. A feast she cooks for England's sons Of scalded heads and broken bones Discharged from iron-hearted guns. Black Sam himself, before he died, Such suppers never did provide: Such dinners roasted, boil'd, and fry'd. To make a brief of all I said If to attack they change blockade Their godships will be well repaid With water, scalding from the pot, With melted lead and flaming shot, With vollies ofI know not what, The British lads will be so treated: Their wooden walls will be so heated, Their ruin will be soon completed. Our citizens shall stare and wonder The Neversink repel their thunder And Cockburn miss a handsome plunder. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...READING MY POEMS FROM WORLD WAR II by WILLIAM MEREDITH WHEN THE GREAT GRAY SHIPS COME IN [AUGUST 20, 1898] by GUY WETMORE CARRYL TOM BOWLING ['S EPITAPH] by CHARLES DIBDIN HOW WE BURNED THE 'PHILADELPHIA' by BARRETT EASTMAN BARNEY'S INVITATION by PHILIP FRENEAU ON THE MEMORABLE VICTORY OF PAUL JONES by PHILIP FRENEAU THE YANKEE PRIVATEER by ARTHUR HALE OLD IRONSIDES by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS by FRANCIS HOPKINSON AN ANCIENT PROPHECY by PHILIP FRENEAU |
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