Page:Poems that every child should know (ed. Burt, 1904).djvu/284

246 In the vast forest here,

Clad in my warlike gear,

Fell I upon my spear,

Oh, death was grateful!

"Thus, seamed with many scars,

Bursting these prison bars,

Up to its native stars

My soul ascended!

There from the flowing bowl

Deep drinks the warrior's soul,

Skoal! to the Northland! skoal!"

Thus the tale ended.

.

The Revenge.

A BALLAD OF THE FLEET.

Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,

And a pinnace, like a flutter'd bird, came flying from away:

"Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!"

Then sware Lord Thomas Howard: "'Fore God, I am no coward;

But I cannot meet them here, for my ships are out of gear,

And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but follow quick.

We are six ships of the line; can we fight with fifty-three?"