Page:Leaves of Grass (1860).djvu/87

Rh I laughed content when I heard the voice of my little
 * captain,

We have not struck, he composedly cried, We have
 * just begun our part of the fighting.

Only three guns were in use, One was directed by the captain himself against the
 * enemy's main-mast,

Two, well served with grape and canister, silenced his
 * musketry and cleared his decks.

The tops alone seconded the fire of this little battery,
 * especially the main-top,

They all held out bravely during the whole of the
 * action.

Not a moment's cease, The leaks gained fast on the pumps—the fire eat
 * toward the powder-magazine,

One of the pumps was shot away—it was generally
 * thought we were sinking.

Serene stood the little captain, He was not hurried—his voice was neither high
 * nor low,

His eyes gave more light to us than our battle-
 * lanterns.

Toward twelve at night, there in the beams of
 * the moon, they surrendered to us.

Stretched and still lay the midnight, Two great hulls motionless on the breast of the
 * darkness,