Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79. | | | | Spithead | | On the Loss of the “Royal George” | | William Cowper (1731–1800) |
| | | TOLL for the brave,— | |
| The brave that are no more! | |
| All sunk beneath the wave, | |
| Fast by their native shore! | |
| |
| Eight hundred of the brave, | 5 |
| Whose courage well was tried, | |
| Had made the vessel heel, | |
| And laid her on her side. | |
| |
| A land breeze shook the shrouds, | |
| And she was overset: | 10 |
| Down went the “Royal George,” | |
| With all her crew complete. | |
| |
| Toll for the brave! | |
| Brave Kempenfelt is gone; | |
| His last sea-fight is fought, | 15 |
| His work of glory done. | |
| |
| It was not in the battle; | |
| No tempest gave the shock; | |
| She sprang no fatal leak, | |
| She ran upon no rock. | 20 |
| |
| His sword was in its sheath; | |
| His fingers held the pen, | |
| When Kempenfelt went down | |
| With twice four hundred men. | |
| |
| Weigh the vessel up, | 25 |
| Once dreaded by our foes! | |
| And mingle with our cup | |
| The tear that England owes. | |
| |
| Her timbers yet are sound, | |
| And she may float again, | 30 |
| Full charged with England’s thunder, | |
| And plough the distant main. | |
| |
| But Kempenfelt is gone, | |
| His victories are o’er; | |
| And he and his eight hundred | 35 |
| Shall plough the waves no more. | | | | |
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