Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO THE BRITISH NAVY, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO THE BRITISH NAVY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: We do not like to own it
Last Line: Hurrah for johnny bull!
Subject(s): Navy - Great Britain; World War I; English Navy; First World War


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!





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