LIGHTS out! And a prow turned toward the South, | |
| And a canvas hiding each cannon’s mouth, | |
| And a ship like a silent ghost released | |
| Is seeking her sister ships in the East. | |
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| A rush of water, a foaming trail, | 5 |
| An ocean hound in a coat of mail, | |
| A deck long-lined with the lines of fate, | |
| She roars good-bye at the Golden Gate. | |
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| On! On! Alone without gong or bell, | |
| But a burning fire, like the fire of hell, | 10 |
| Till the lookout starts as his glasses show | |
| The white cathedral of Callao. | |
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| A moment’s halt ’neath the slender spire; | |
| Food, food for the men, and food for the fire. | |
| Then out in the sea to rest no more | 15 |
| Till her keel is grounded on Chile’s shore. | |
| |
| South! South! God guard through the unknown wave, | |
| Where chart nor compass may help or save, | |
| Where the hissing wraiths of the sea abide | |
| And few may pass through the stormy tide. | 20 |
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| North! North! For a harbor far away, | |
| For another breath in the burning day; | |
| For a moment’s shelter from speed and pain, | |
| And a prow to the tropic sea again. | |
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| Home! Home! With the mother fleet to sleep | 25 |
| Till the call shall rise o’er the awful deep; | |
| And the bell shall clang for the battle there, | |
| And the voice of guns is the voice of prayer! * * * * * | |
| One more to the songs of the bold and free, | |
| When your children gather about your knee; | 30 |
| When the Goths and Vandals come down in might | |
| As they came to the walls of Rome one night; | |
| When the lordly William of Deloraine | |
| Shall ride by the Scottish lake again; | |
| When the Hessian spectres shall flit in air | 35 |
| As Washington crosses the Delaware; | |
| When the eyes of babes shall be closed in dread | |
| As the story of Paul Revere is read; | |
| When your boys shall ask what the guns are for, | |
| Then tell them the tale of the Spanish War, | 40 |
| And the breathless millions that looked upon | |
| The matchless race of the Oregon. | |
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