TOLL for the brave, -- The brave that are no more! All sunk beneath the wave, Fast by their native shore. Eight hundred of the brave, Whose courage well was tried, Had made the vessel heel, And laid her on her side. A land-breeze shook the shrouds, And she was overset; Down went the Royal George, With all her crew complete. Toll for the brave! Brave Kempenfelt is gone; His last sea-fight is fought, His work of glory done. It was not in the battle; No tempest gave the shock; She sprang no fatal leak; She ran upon no rock. His sword was in its sheath, His fingers held the pen, When Kempenfelt went down With twice four hundred men. Weigh the vessel up, Once dreaded by our foes! And mingle with our cup The tear that England owes. Her timbers yet are sound, And she may float again, Full charged with England's thunder, And plough the distant main. But Kempenfelt is gone; His victories are o'er; And he and his eight hundred Shall plough the wave no more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RUSSIAN ARMY GOES INTO BAKU by ALICIA SUSKIN OSTRIKER BILL AND JOE by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES SAN GABRIEL by LYMAN WHITNEY ALLEN THE RUINS OF CORINTH by ANTIPATER OF SIDON THE BLASPHEMER'S WARNING; A LAY OF ST. ROMWOLD by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM IN THE STILLNESS O' THE NIGHT by WILLIAM BARNES THE SWORD by MICHAEL JOSEPH BARRY THE VALLEY by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE ON THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES, LORD HERBERT by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |