180

THE ARMADA.

Look how the Lion of the sea lifts up his ancient crown, And underneath his deadly paw treads the gay lilies down! So stalked he when he turned to flight, on that famed Picard

field,

Bohemia's plume, and Genoa's bow, and Cæsar's eagle shield.

So glared he when at Agincourt in wrath he turned to bay, And crushed and torn beneath his claws the princely hunters lay.

Ho! strike the flagstaff deep, Sir Knight: ho! scatter flowers, fair maids!

Ho, gunners! fire a loud salute: ho! gallants, draw your blades:

Thou sun, shine on her joyously; ye breezes, waft her wide; Our glorious SEMPER EADEM! the banner of our pride.

The fresh'ning breeze of eve unfurled that banner's massy fold

The parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty scroll of gold:

Night sank upon the dusky beach, and on the purple sea; Such night in England ne'er had been, nor e'er again

shall be.

From Eddystone to Berwick bounds, from Lynn to Milford

Bay,

That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day; For swift to east and swift to west the ghastly war-flame

spread

High on St. Michael's Mount it shone-it shone on Beachy

Head:

Far o'er the deep the Spaniard saw, along each southern shire,

Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points of fire.

The fisher left his skiff to rock on Tamar's glittering waves, The rugged miners poured to war from Mendip's sunless

caves;

O'er Longleat's towers, o'er Cranbourne's oaks, the fiery herald flew:

He roused the shepherds of Stonehenge-the rangers of Beaulieu.

Right sharp and quick the bells rang out all night from Bristol town,

And, ere the day, three hundred horse had met on Clifton Down.

The sentinel on Whitehall gate looked forth into the night, And saw, o'erhanging Richmond Hill that streak of bloodred light:

The bugle's note and cannon's roar, the death-like silence

broke,

And with one start, and with one cry, the royal city woke. At once on all her stately gates arose the answering fires;

At once the wild alarum clashed from all her reeling

spires;

From all the batteries of the Tower pealed loud the voice

of fear;

And all the thousand masts of Thames sent back a louder

cheer:

And from the furthest wards was heard the rush of hurrying

feet,

And the broad streams of pikes and flags rushed down each roaring street;

And broader still became the blaze, and louder still the din, As fast from every village round the horse came spurring in; And eastward straight from wild Blackheath the warlike errand went,

And roused in many an ancient hall the gallant squires of Kent:

Southward from Surrey's pleasant hills flew those bright couriers forth;

High on bleak Hampstead's swarthy moor they started for the north;

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THE ARMADA.

And on, and on, without a pause, untired they bounded still; All night from tower to tower they sprang; they sprang from hill to hill;

Till the proud peak unfurled the flag o'er Darwin's rocky dales;

Till like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills of

Wales;

Till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern's lonely

height;

Till streamed in crimson on the wind the Wrekin's crest

of light;

Till broad and fierce the star came forth, on Ely's stately

fane,

And tower and hamlet rose in arms o'er all the boundless

plain;

Till Belvoir's lordly terraces the sign to Lincoln sent,
And Lincoln sped the message on o'er the wide vale of

Trent:

Till Skiddaw saw the fire that burnt on Gaunt's embattled

pile,

And the red glare on Skiddaw roused the burghers of

Carlisle.

Lord Macaulay.

YE MARINERS OF ENGLAND.

YE mariners of England,

That guard our native seas;

Whose flag has braved a thousand years
The battle and the breeze!
Your glorious standard launch again

To match another foe;

And sweep through the deep,

While the stormy winds do blow; While the battle rages loud and long, And the stormy winds do blow!

The spirits of your fathers

Shall start from every wave;

For the deck it was their field of fame,
And Ocean was their grave:
Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell,
Your manly hearts shall glow,
As ye sweep through the deep,

While the stormy winds do blow;
While the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow!

Britannia needs no bulwarks,

No towers along the steep;

Her march is o'er the mountain-waves, Her home is on the deep.

184

THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC.

With thunders from her native oak
She quells the floods below,
As they roar on the shore

When the stormy winds do blow;
When the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow!

The meteor flag of England
Shall yet terrific burn;

Till danger's troubled night depart
And the star of peace return.
Then, then, ye ocean-warriors!
Our song and feast shall flow
To the fame of your name,

When the storm has ceased to blow;
When the fiery fight is heard no more,

And the storm has ceased to blow.

T. Campbell.

THE BATTLE OF THE BALTIC.

OF Nelson and the North

Sing the glorious day's renown,

When to battle fierce came forth

All the might of Denmark's crown,

And her arms along the deep proudly shone;

By each gun the lighted brand

In a bold determined hand,

And the Prince of all the land

Led them on.

Like leviathans afloat,

Lay their bulwarks on the brine;
While the sign of battle flew
On the lofty British line: