Page:Alexandrina Victoria - 18th Birthday Tribute.pdf/13



Each strong as a tower—and stern as a tomb, The death-bearing ships sail'd the seas in their gloom; Strange tortures were hid in the depths of each hold, And wealth that might buy her—could England be sold; Then came the proud queen to the shores of the sea,— She gather'd around her the brave and the free; Of all the Armada that darken'd the main, No vessel return'd to its harbour again; The maidens of Cadiz look'd out through their tears, No banner their hand had embroider'd appears; They are torn by the winds and the waves, or have been Laid low at the feet of the proud island queen.