Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/381

CAPTAIN FRANCISCA To each an equal share,

Else blades are in the air!

Cries Du Plessis: "For me,

My ship, and bride!"

They sailed the Mer du Nord,

The Carib Sea,

Whose galleons fled before

The Frenchman's crew;

But, in one deadly fight,

A swivel aimed aright

Brought down young Du Plessis,

Shot through and through.

Wild heart of France, in pride

And ruin bred!

Against a heart he died,

As brave, as free.

Sternly she bade his men

First sink the prize, and then

Name one that in his stead

Their chief should be.

Each red-shirt laid his hand

Upon the Cross,

Swearing, at her command,

Vengeance to wreak;

To scour the blue sea there

And seek the Spaniards' lair,

From Gracias à Dios

To Porto Rique.

His corse the deep she gave,

Her life to hate;

Upon the land and wave

Brought sudden fear: 351