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Ballads, Lyrics and Sonnets: From the Poetic Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ballads Lyrics and Sonnets From the Poetic Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Author:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1889 Original Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin and Company Subjects: History / General Poetry / General Poetry / American / General Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the G... more »eneral Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: THE CUMBERLAND. (JT anchor in Hampton Roads we lay, On board of the Cumberland, sloop-of-war; And at times from the fortress across the bay The alarum of drums swept past, Or a bugle blast From the camp on the shore. Then far away to the south uprose A little feather of snow-white smoke, And we knew that the iron ship of our foes Was steadily steering its course To try the force Of our ribs of oak. Down upon us heavily runs, Silent and sullen, the floating fort; Then comes a puff of smoke from her guns, And leaps the terrible death, With fiery breath, From each open port. We are not idle, but send her straight Defiance back in a full broadside ! As hail rebounds from a roof of slate, Rebounds our heavier hail From each iron scale Of the monster's hide. " Strike your flag ! " the rebel cries, In his arrogant old plantation strain. " Never ! " our gallant Morris replies ; "It is better to sink than to yield ! " And the whole air pealed With the cheers of our men. Then, like a kraken huge and black, She crushed our ribs in her iron grasp ! Down went the Cumberland all a wrack, With a sudden shudder of death, And the cannon's breath For her dying gasp. Next morn, as the sun rose over the bay, Still floated our flag at the mainmast head. Lord, how beautiful was Thy day ! Every waft of the air Was a whisper of prayer, Or a dirge for the dead. Ho ! brave hearts that went down in the seas ! Ye are at peace in the troubled stream; H...« less