They cleared the cruiser end to end,
From conning-tower to hold.
They fought as they fought in Nelson's fleet;
They were stripped to the waist, they were bare to the feet,
As it was in the days of old.
It was the sinking _Clampherdown_
Heaved up her battered side--
And carried a million pounds in steel,
To the cod and the corpse-fed conger-eel,
And the scour of the Channel tide.
It was the crew of the _Clampherdown_
Stood out to sweep the sea,
On a cruiser won from an ancient foe,
As it was in the days of long-ago,
And as it still shall be.
RUDYARD KIPLING.
THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB.
"The Destruction of Sennacherib," by Lord Byron, finds a place in this
collection because Johnnie, a ten-year-old, and many of his friends
say, "It's great." (1788-1824.)
The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.
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