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Songs of the Fleet1I. Sailing at DawnOne by one the pale stars die before theday now.One by one the great ships are stirringfrom their sleep,Cables all are rumbling anchors all aweighnow,Now the fl eet’s a fl eet again, glidingtowards the deep.Now the fl eet’s a fl eet again, bound uponthe old ways,Splendour of the past comes shining in thespray;Admirals of old time bring us on the boldwaves!Souls of all the sea-dogs lead the linetoday.Far away behind us town and tower aredwindling,Home becomes a fair dream faded longago;Infi nitely glorious the height of heav’n iskindling,Infi nitely desolate the shoreless sea below.Now the fl eet’s a fl eet again, bound uponthe old ways,Splendour of the past comes shining in thespray;Admirals of old time bring us on the boldwaves!Souls of all the sea-dogs lead the linetoday.Once again with proud hearts we make theold surrender,Once again with high hearts serve the ageto be,Not for us the warm life of Earth, secureand tender,Our’s th’ eternal wandering and warfare ofthe sea.Now the fl eet’s a fl eet again, bound uponthe old ways,Splendour of the past comes shining in thespray;Admirals of old time bring us on the boldwaves!Souls of all the sea-dogs lead the linetoday.2II. The Song of the Sou’WesterThe sun was lost in a leaden skyAnd the shore lay under our lee;When a great Sou’Wester hurricane highCame rollicking up the sea.He played with the fl eet as a boy withboatsTill out for the Downs we ran,And he laughed with the roar of athousand throatsAt the militant ways of man.I am the enemy most of might,The other be who you please!Gunner and guns may all be right,Flags a-fl ying and armour tight,But I am the fellow you’ve fi rst to fi ght,The giant that swings the seas.A dozen of middies were down belowChasing the X they love,While the table curtseyed long and slow,And the lamps were giddy above.The lesson was all of a ship and a shot,And some of it may have been true,But the word they heard and never forgotWas the word of the wind that blew.I am the enemy most of might,The other be who you please!Gunner and guns may all be right,Flags a-fl ying and armour tight,But I am the fellow you’ve fi rst to fi ght,The giant that swings the seas.The middy with luck is a captain soon,With luck he may hear one dayHis own big guns a-humming the tune:‘I was in Trafalgar’s Bay.’But wherever he goes with friends or foes,And whatever may there befall,He’ll hear for ever a voice he knowsFor ever defying them all.I am the enemy most of might,The other be who you please!Gunner and guns may all be right,Flags a-fl ying and armour tight,But I am the fellow you’ve fi rst to fi ght,The giant that swings the seas.3III. The Middle-WatchIn a blue dusk the ship a-sternUplifts her slender spars,With golden lights that seem to burnAmong the silver stars.Like fl eets along a cloudy shoreThe constellations creep,Like planets on the ocean fl oorOur silent course we keep.And over the endless plain,Out of the night forlorn,Rises a faint refrain,A song of the day to be born.Watch, O watch, till ye fi nd againLife and the land of morn.30 31CHSA 5043 BOOK.indd 30-31 21/8/06 10:24:59
From a dim West to a dark EastOur lines unwavering head,As if their motion long had ceasedAnd Time itself were dead.Vainly we watch the deep below,Vainly the void above,They died a thousand years ago,Life and the land we love.But over the endless plain,Out of the night forlorn,Rises a faint refrain,A song of the day to be born.Watch, O watch, till ye fi nd againLife and the land of morn.4IV. The Little AdmiralStand by to reckon up your battleships,Ten, twenty, thirty there they go.Brag about your cruisers like Leviathans,A thousand men apiece down below.But here’s just one little Admiral,We’re all of us his brothers and his sons,And he’s worth, oh he’s worth, at the veryleast,Double all your tons and all your guns.Stand by to reckon up your battleships,Ten, twenty, thirty there they go.Brag about your cruisers like Leviathans,A thousand men apiece down below.See them on the fore-bridge signallingA score of men a-hauling hand to hand,And the whole fl eet fl ying like the wildgeese,Moved by some mysterious command.Where’s the mighty will that shows the wayto them,The mind that sees ahead so quick andclear?He’s there, Sir, walking all alone there,The little man whose voice you neverhear.Stand by to reckon up your battleships,Ten, twenty, thirty there they go.Brag about your cruisers like Leviathans,A thousand men apiece down below.There are queer things that only come tosailormen,They’re true, but they’re neverunderstood;And I know one thing about the Admiral,That I can’t tell rightly as I should.I’ve been with him when hope sankunder us,He hardly seemed a mortal like the rest.I could swear that he had stars upon hisuniform,And one sleeve pinned across hisbreast.Stand by to reckon up your battleships,Ten, twenty, thirty there they go.Brag about your cruisers like Leviathans,A thousand men apiece down below.Some day we’re bound to sight the enemy,He’s coming, tho’ he hasn’t yet a name.Keel to keel and gun to gun he’llchallenge usTo meet him at the Great Armada game.None knows what may be the end of it,But we’ll all give our bodies and oursoulsTo see the little Admiral a-playing him,A rubber of the old long Bowls.Stand by to reckon up your battleships,Ten, twenty, thirty there they go.Brag about your cruisers like Leviathans,A thousand men apiece down below.5V. Fare WellMother, with unbowed headHear thou across the seaThe farewell of the dead,The dead who died for thee.Greet them again with tender words andgrave,For, saving thee, themselves they couldnot save.To keep the house unharmed,their fathers built so fair,Deeming endurance armedBetter than brute despair.They found the secret of the word thatsaith,‘Service is sweet, for all true life is death.’So greet thou well thy deadAcross the homeless sea,And be thou comfortedBecause they died for thee.Far off they served, but now their deed isdone.For ever more their life and thine are one.Sir Henry Newbolt (1862 –1938)The Revenge: A Ballad of the FleetI6At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenvillelay,And a pinnace, like a fl utter’d bird, camefl ying from far away:‘Spanish ships of war at sea! we havesighted fi fty-three!’Then sware Lord Thomas Howard: ‘’ForeGod I am no coward;32 33CHSA 5043 BOOK.indd 32-33 21/8/06 10:25:00
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STANFORD - Chandos

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