Thomas Campbell.

1774-1844

590   Ye Mariners of England

YE Mariners of England
    That guard our native seas!
Whose flag has braved a thousand years
    The battle and the breeze!
Your glorious standard launch again
   To match another foe;
And sweep through the deep,
   While the stormy winds do blow!
While the battle rages loud and long
   And the stormy winds do blow.

The spirits of your fathers
   Shall start from every wave—
For the deck it was their field of fame,
   And Ocean was their grave:
Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell
   Your manly hearts shall glow,
As ye sweep through the deep,
   While the stormy winds do blow!
While the battle rages loud and long
   And the stormy winds do blow.

Britannia needs no bulwarks,
   No towers along the steep;
Her march is o’er the mountain- waves,
   Her home is on the deep.
With thunders from her native oak
   She quells the floods below,
As they roar on the shore,
   When the stormy winds do blow!
When the battle rages loud and long,
   And the stormy winds do blow.

The meteor flag of England
   Shall yet terrific burn;
Till danger’s troubled night depart
   And the star of peace return.
Then, then, ye ocean-warriors!
   Our song and feast shall flow
To the fame of your name,
   When the storm has ceased to blow!
When the fiery fight is heard no more,
   And the storm has ceased to blow.

591   The Battle of the Baltic

OF Nelson and the North
Sing the glorious day’s renown,
When to battle fierce came forth
All the might of Denmark’s crown,
And her arms along the deep proudly shone;
By each gun the lighted brand
In a bold determined hand,
And the Prince of all the land
Led them on.

Like leviathans afloat
Lay their bulwarks on the brine,
While the sign of battle flew
On the lofty British line:
It was ten of April morn by the chime:
As they drifted on their path
There was silence deep as death,
And the boldest held his breath
For a time.

But the might of England flush’d
To anticipate the scene;
And her van the fleeter rush’d
O’er the deadly space between:
‘Hearts of oak!’ our captains cried, when each gun
From its adamantine lips
Spread a death-shade round the ships,
Like the hurricane eclipse
Of the sun.

Again! again! again!
And the havoc did not slack,
Till a feeble cheer the Dane
To our cheering sent us back;—
Their shots along the deep slowly boom:—
Then ceased—and all is wail,
As they strike the shatter’d sail,
Or in conflagration pale
Light the gloom.

Out spoke the victor then
As he hail’d them o’er the wave:
‘Ye are brothers! ye are men!
And we conquer but to save:—
So peace instead of death let us bring:
But yield, proud foe, thy fleet,
With the crews, at England’s feet,
And make submission meet
To our King.’...

Now joy, old England, raise!
For the tidings of thy might,
By the festal cities’ blaze,
Whilst the wine-cup shines in light!
And yet amidst that joy and uproar,
Let us think of them that sleep
Full many a fathom deep,
By thy wild and stormy steep,
Elsinore!