A Ballad or the French Fleet

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * Track #199 On The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A Ballad or the French Fleet by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A Ballad or the French Fleet Annotated

A fleet with flags arrayed
&nbsp Sailed from the port of Brest,
And the Admiral's ship displayed
&nbsp The signal: "Steer southwest."
For this Admiral D'Anville
&nbsp Had sworn by cross and crown
To ravage with fire and steel
&nbsp Our helpless Boston Town.

There were rumors in the street,
&nbsp In the houses there was fear
Of the coming of the fleet,
&nbsp And the danger hovering near.
And while from mouth to mouth
&nbsp Spread the tidings of dismay,
I stood in the Old South,
&nbsp Saying humbly: "Let us pray!

"O Lord! we would not advise;
&nbsp But if in thy Providence
A tempest should arise
&nbsp To drive the French fleet hence,
And scatter it far and wide,
&nbsp Or sink it in the sea,
We should be satisfied,
&nbsp And thine the glory be."

This was the prayer I made,
&nbsp For my soul was all on flame,
And even as I prayed
&nbsp The answering tempest came;
It came with a mighty power,
&nbsp Shaking the windows and walls,
And tolling the bell in the tower,
&nbsp As it tolls at funerals.

The lightning suddenly
&nbsp Unsheathed its flaming sword,
And I cried: "Stand still, and see
&nbsp The salvation of the Lord!"
The heavens were black with cloud,
&nbsp The sea was white with hail,
And ever more fierce and loud
&nbsp Blew the October gale.

The fleet it overtook,
&nbsp And the broad sails in the van
Like the tents of Cushan shook,
&nbsp Or the curtains of Midian.
Down on the reeling decks
&nbsp Crashed the o'erwhelming seas;
Ah, never were there wrecks
&nbsp So pitiful as these!

Like a potter's vessel broke
&nbsp The great ships of the line;
They were carried away as a smoke,
&nbsp Or sank like lead in the brine.
O Lord! before thy path
&nbsp They vanished and ceased to be,
When thou didst walk in wrath
&nbsp With thine horses through the sea!

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