In Flanders Fields and Other Poems

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"></SPAN></p> <br/> <h2> The Captain </h2> <p>1797<br/></p> <p><i>Here all the day she swings from tide to tide,<br/> Here all night long she tugs a rusted chain,<br/> A masterless hulk that was a ship of pride,<br/> Yet unashamed: her memories remain.</i><br/> <br/> It was Nelson in the 'Captain', Cape St. Vincent far alee,<br/> With the 'Vanguard' leading s'uth'ard in the haze &mdash;<br/> Little Jervis and the Spaniards and the fight that was to be,<br/> Twenty-seven Spanish battleships, great bullies of the sea,<br/> And the 'Captain' there to find her day of days.<br/> <br/> Right into them the 'Vanguard' leads, but with a sudden tack<br/> The Spaniards double swiftly on their trail;<br/> Now Jervis overshoots his mark, like some too eager pack,<br/> He will not overtake them, haste he e'er so greatly back,<br/> But Nelson and the 'Captain' will not fail.<br/> <br/> Like a tigress on her quarry leaps the 'Captain' from her place,<br/> To lie across the fleeing squadron's way:<br/> Heavy odds and heavy onslaught, gun to gun and face to face,<br/> Win the ship a name of glory, win the men a death of grace,<br/> For a little hold the Spanish fleet in play.<br/> <br/> Ended now the "Captain"'s battle, stricken sore she falls aside<br/> Holding still her foemen, beaten to the knee:<br/> As the 'Vanguard' drifted past her, "Well done, 'Captain'," Jervis cried,<br/> Rang the cheers of men that conquered, ran the blood of men that died,<br/> And the ship had won her immortality.<br/> <br/> <i>Lo! here her progeny of steel and steam,<br/> A funnelled monster at her mooring swings:<br/> Still, in our hearts, we see her pennant stream,<br/> And "Well done, 'Captain'," like a trumpet rings.</i><br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />