[In August, 1591, a fleet of English warships lay at Flores, one of the islands of the Azores, to intercept Spanish treasure-galleons coming from the West Indies. The fifty-three vessels of the poem were sent from Spain to meet and escort the treasure-ships. The ballad is supposed to be spoken by one of the crew of Grenville's ship, the Revenge.] At Flores in the Azores2 Sir Richard Grenville lay, And a pinnace, like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away; "Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!" Then sware Lord Thomas Howard: ""Fore God I am no coward; But I cannot meet them here, for my ships are out of gear, And the half my men are sick. I must fly, but follow quick. We are six ships of the line;3 can we fight with fifty-three?" Then spake Sir Richard Grenville: "I know you are no coward; You fly them for a moment to fight with them again. But I've ninety men and more that are lying sick ashore. 10 I should count myself the coward if I left them, my Lord Howard, To these Inquisition dogs and the devildoms of Spain." So Lord Howard passed away with five ships of war that day, Till he melted like a cloud in the silent summer heaven; The Louvre Palace is adorned with statues of distinguished Frenchmen. 2 Azores. Here pronounced "Azo'-res," riming with "Flores." 3 ships of the line. Battleships. Sir Richard spoke and he laughed, and we roared a hurrah, and so The little Revenge ran on sheer into the heart of the foe, With her hundred fighters on deck, and her ninety sick below; For half of their fleet to the right and half to the left were seen, And the little Revenge ran on thro' the long sea-lane between. Thousands of their soldiers looked down from their decks and laughed, Thousands of their seamen made mock at the mad little craft Running on and on, till delayed By their mountain-like San Philip that, of fifteen hundred tons, 40 And up-shadowing high above us with her yawning tiers of guns, Took the breath from our sails, and we stayed. And while now the great San Philip hung above us like a cloud Whence the thunderbolt will fall Long and loud, 4 Don. Spaniard. Four galleons drew away And two upon the larboard and two upon the starboard lay, And the battle-thunder broke from them all. But anon the great San Philip, she bethought herself and went, 50 Having that within her womb that had left her ill content; And the rest they came aboard us, and they fought us hand to hand, For a dozen times they came with their pikes and musqueteers, And a dozen times we shook 'em off as a dog that shakes his ears When he leaps from the water to the land. And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the summer sea, But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-three. Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons came, Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle-thunder and flame: Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead and her shame. 60 For some were sunk and many were shattered, and so could fight us no moreGod of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before? And we had not fought them in vain, But in perilous plight were we, Seeing forty of our poor hundred were slain, And half of the rest of us maimed for life In the crash of the cannonades and the desperate strife: And the sick men down in the hold were most of them stark and cold, And the pikes were all broken or bent, and the powder was all of it spent; And the masts and the rigging were lying 81 over the side; But Sir Richard cried in his English pride: "We have fought such a fight for a day and a night And away she sailed with her loss, and longed for her own; When a wind from the lands they had ruined awoke from sleep, And the water began to heave and the weather to moan, And or1 ever that evening ended a great gale blew, And a wave like the wave that is raised by an earthquake grew, Till it smote on their hulls and their sails and their masts and their flags, And the whole sea plunged and fell on the shot-shattered navy of Spain, And the little Revenge herself went down by the island crags To be lost evermore in the main. (1878) A BALLAD OF THE FRENCH FLEET October, 1746 HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW [The poem relates to the war between England and France, 1744-48. The American colonists having captured Louisburg, one of the important Canadian fortresses, the French fitted out a fleet to retake it. The speaker in the poem is Thomas Prince, minister of the Old South Church in Boston.] A fleet with flags arrayed Sailed from the port of Brest, Had sworn by cross and crown a D'Anville. Pronounce "Don-veel." This was the prayer I made, For my soul was all on flame; And even as I prayed The answering tempest came; It came with a mighty power, Shaking the windows and walls, 30 And tolling the bell in the tower As it tolls at funerals. The lightning suddenly Unsheathed its flaming sword, And I cried: "Stand still, and see The salvation of the Lord!" The heavens were black with cloud, The sea was white with hail, And ever more fierce and loud Blew the October gale. The fleet it overtook, And the broad sails in the van Like a potter's vessel broke They vanished and ceased to be, With thine horses through the sea! (1878) 40 50 3 Cushan... Midian. Desert tribes of Old Testament times. 4 Ships of the line. Warships. PHEIDIPPIDES ROBERT BROWNING [This poem tells the story of a Greek tradition of one of the greatest of Athenian runners. When, in 490 B.C., Darius of Persia sent a great host against Athens, Pheidippides was despatched to Sparta to ask for aid. Owing to Spartan jealousy he was unsuccessful, but brought back a promise of aid from the god Pan, whom the Athenians had not been in the habit of worshipping. There followed the battle of Marathon, when the Persians were driven into the sea. The poem opens with Pheidippides's salutation of the gods of his country, immediately on his return from Sparta.] "First I salute this soil of the blessed, river and rock! Then I name thee, claim thee for our patron, co-equal in praise "Archons of Athens, topped by the tettix, see, I return! See, 'tis myself here standing alive, no spectre that speaks! 10 Crowned with the myrtle, did you command me, Athens and you, 'Run, Pheidippides, run and race, reach Sparta for aid! Persia has come, we are here, where is She?' Your command I obeyed, "Into their midst I broke: breath served but for 'Persia has come! Drop into dust and die-the flower of Hellas utterly die, Die, with the wide world spitting at Sparta, the stupid, the stander-by? "O my Athens-Sparta love thee? Did Sparta respond? I stood Malice, each eye of her gave me its glitter of gratified hate! "No bolt launched from Olympus! Lo, their answer at last! What follows (lines 5-8) 1 Her of the agis and spear. The goddess Pallas Athene, patroness of Athens. 2 Ye of the bow and the buskin. Phoebus Apollo and Artemis (cf. line 32). is explained by the story of Pheidippides's meeting with the god Pan, lines 70-80. 20 3 Archons. The chief Athenian officials. 4 lettix. A metal ornament, in the shape of a cicada. 5 quarry. Hunter's game. 6 bolt. Zeus's thunderbolt. "Athens, except for that sparkle,-thy name, I had mouldered to ash! "'Oak and olive and bay,-I bid you cease to enwreathe You that, our patrons were pledged, should never adorn a slave! "Such my cry as, rapid, I ran over Parnes' ridge; "There, in the cool of a cleft, sat he-majestical Pan! makes me no feast! "Athens, she only, rears me no fane, "Say Pan saith: "Let this, foreshadowing the place, be the pledge!'" -Fennel-I grasped it a-tremble with dew-whatever it bode) Here am I back. Praise Pan, we stand no more on the razor's edge! 1 filleted victim. The ribbon-decked sacrifice. 2 service so slack. That is, if you have not protected Athens. 3 Parnes. Mountains near Sparta. 4 fosse. Hollow. 5 Erebos. The region of darkness under the earth. 6 only in Hellas. Alone of Greek cities. fane. Temple. 8 greaved. Armored. 9 guerdon. Reward. 50 60 70 80 |