Page:Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.djvu/67

Rh The fighting Temeraire,

Built of a thousand trees,

Lunging out her lightnings,

And beetling o'er the seas—

O Ship, how brave and fair,

That fought so oft and well,

On open decks you manned the gun

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What cheering did you share,

Impulsive in the van,

When down upon leagued France and Spain

We English ran—

The freshet at your bowsprit

Like the foam upon the can.

Bickering, your colors

Licked up the Spanish air,

You flapped with flames of battle-flags—

Your challenge, Temeraire!

The rear ones of our fleet

They yearned to share your place,

Still vying with the Victory

Throughout that earnest race—

The Victory, whose Admiral,

With orders nobly won,

Shone in the globe of the battle glow—

The angel in that sun.