LOADED with gallant soldiers, A boat shot in to the land, And lay at the right of Rodman's Point, With her keel upon the sand. lightly, gayly, they came to shore, And never a man afraid; When sudden the enemy opened fire, From his deadly ambuscade. Each man fell flat on the bottom Of the boat; and the captain said: "If we lie here, we all are captured, And the first who moves is dead!" Then out spoke a negro sailor, No slavish soul had he: "Somebody's got to die, boys, And it might as well be me!" Firmly he rose, and fearlessly Stepped out into the tide; He pushed the vessel safely off, Then fell across her side: Fell, pierced by a dozen bullets, As the boat swung clear and free; -- But there was n't a man of them that day Who was fitter to die than he! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WORDLY WISE (5) by MOTHER GOOSE PORTRAIT D'UNE FEMME by EZRA POUND FOR 'THE WINE OF CIRCE' (BY EDWARD BURNE JONES) by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI A DIRGE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY A SONG FOR MY FELLOWS by ALEXANDER ANDERSON TWO SONNETS FROM NEW YORK: QUESTIONS by ADELAIDE NICHOLS BAKER |