| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | June 6 | | Blaine of Maine | | By Eugene Fitch Ware (“Ironquill”) (1841–1911) |
| | | | On his nomination by the Republican convention in Chicago, June 6, 1884. |
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LASHED to his flagship’s mast, | |
| Old Farragut, through iron-guarded bays, | |
| Through fleets of fire, through batteries ablaze, | |
| By shot and shell harassed, | |
| While wreck and ruin seemed to block his way, | 5 |
| And splintered spars spread sprinkling on the spray, | |
| Guiding his fleet throughout the frightful fray, | |
| Into the harbor passed; | |
| And sullen forts grew calm and still | |
| Beneath the victor’s iron will, | 10 |
| Subdued and crushed at last. | |
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| O Blaine! amid the glare | |
| Of party ruin, take the ship of state; | |
| We bind thee to its mast, thou statesman great; | |
| And thine must be the care | 15 |
| To guide it on through rocks and reefs that vex | |
| The changing channel with a thousand wrecks. | |
| And though the surge shall sweep its sacred decks, | |
| We know thou wilt not spare | |
| Thy efforts to conduct it by | 20 |
| The rocks and reefs that seem to lie | |
| Around it everywhere. | | | |
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