AY, shout and rave, thou cruel sea, In triumph o'er that fated deck, Grown holy by another grave -- Thou hast the captain of the wreck. No prayer was said, no lesson read, O'er him; the soldier of the sea: And yet for him, through all the land, A thousand thoughts to-night shall be. And many an eye shall dim with tears, And many a cheek be flushed with pride; And men shall say, There died a man, And boys shall learn how well he died. Ay, weep for him, whose noble soul Is with the God who made it great, But weep not for so proud a death, -- We could not spare so grand a fate. Nor could Humanity resign That hour which bade her heart beat high, And blazoned Duty's stainless shield, And set a star in Honor's sky. O dreary night! O grave of hope! O sea, and dark, unpitying sky! Full many a wreck these waves shall claim Ere such another heart shall die. Alas, how can we help but mourn When hero bosoms yield their breath! A century itself may bear But once the flower of such a death; So full of manliness, so sweet With utmost duty nobly done; So thronged with deeds, so filled with life, As though with death that life begun. It has begun, true gentleman! No better life we ask for thee; Thy Viking soul and woman heart Forever shall a beacon be, -- A starry thought to veering souls, To teach it is not best to live; To show that life has naught to match Such knighthood as the grave can give. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GOAL by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON IF by EDWARD JAMES MORTIMER COLLINS HAPPY WIND by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES THE OLD CHURCHYARD OF BONCHURCH by PHILIP BOURKE MARSTON LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY GARDEN DAYS: 2. NEST EGGS by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON |