Gone are the old-time wooden fleets, And gone beyond our last appeal The tars of old, whose daring feats Were hampered by no hulls of steel. Then war was war on timber keel, And when a naval fight began Ships clinched and men fought heel to heel— No more we battle man to man. Ah, those were days of rare conceits Of bravery and reckless zeal, When frigates flared their mammoth sheets Like wings above the woe and weal Of strife, and smoke-grimed men could feel The jar of meeting hulls, and ran With cutlasses defeat to deal— No more we battle man to man. O'er miles of sea the warship greets Its foe to-day with shots that reel From armoured decks, and science meets With might, to turn grim fortune's wheel Through distances that half reveal Death's fierce, aerial caravan And ruin's blackened, sprawling seal— No more we battle man to man. ENVOY. O shade of Jones! could you conceal Your grief at such a battle plan, Wherein to science heroes kneel? No more we battle man to man. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SOCIOLOGY OF TOYOTAS AND JADE CHRYSANTHEMUMS by HAYDEN CARRUTH TO THE ROCK THAT WILL BE A CORNERSTONE OF THE HOUSE by ROBINSON JEFFERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: JACOB GODBEY by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: PAULINE BARRETT by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: RICHARD BONE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |