Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/177

Rh "Captain, the bow-gun melts apace,
 * "The deck-beams break below,

Twere well to rest for an hour or twain, "And botch the shattered plates again."
 * And he answered, "Make it so."

She opened fire within the mile—
 * As ye shoot at the flying duck—

And the great stern-gun shot fair and true, With the heave of the ship, to the stainless blue,
 * And the great stern-turret stuck.

"Captain, the turret fills with steam,
 * "The feed-pipes burst below—

"You can hear the hiss of the helpless ram, "You can hear the twisted runners jam."
 * And he answered, "Turn and go!"

It was our war-ship Clampherdown,
 * And grimly did she roll;

Swung round to take the cruiser's fire As the White Whale faces the Thresher's ire
 * When they war by the frozen Pole.

"Captain, the shells are falling fast,
 * "And faster still fall we;

"And it is not meet for English stock "To bide in the heart of an eight-day clock
 * "The death they cannot see."

"Lie down, lie down, my bold A.B.,
 * "We drift upon her beam;

"We dare not ram, for she can run: "And dare ye fire another gun,
 * "And die in the peeling steam?"