Page:The Vow of the Peacock.pdf/336

Rh

He has been many years at sea, He's worn with wind and wave; He asks a little breathing space Between it and his grave: He feels his breath come heavily, His keen eye faint and dim; It was a weary sacrifice That England asked of him.

He never saw his home again— The deep voice of the gun, The lowering of his battle-flag, Told when his life was done. His sailors walked the deck and wept; Around them howled the gale;