SONGS OF THE SHIPS OF STEEL.
By James Barnes.
[Editor's Note.—Mr. Barnes, the author of the following songs, has distinguished himself by his writings on the naval history of the United States and also in the field of fiction. He has published a book on the "Naval Actions of the War of 1812," biographies of several American naval commanders, and a collection of true historical stories of "Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors." He is now editing for the Frederick A. Stokes Co. a book to be entitled "Songs of Ships and the Sea," which will contain the words and music of many old sea songs, as well as of some new ones, and which will be illustrated by R. F. Zogbaum. Mr. Barnes himself has written a number of songs for this book, and those published here will also appear in it.]
THE SONG OF THEN AND NOW.
I.
Oh, they sang a song of Wind and Sail
In the days of heave and haul,
Of the weather-gage, of tack and sheet,
When the anchor rose to the tramp of feet
And the click of the capstan pawl.
They sang brave songs of the old broadsides,
Long Tom, and the carronade!
Hi! cutlas and pike as the great sides strike—
Ho! the cheers of the ne'er-afraid!
For they cheered as they fought, did those sailormen;
They stripped to the buff for the fray—
It was steel to steel, it was eye to eye—
Yard-arm to yard-arm against the sky!
All ye boarders, up and away!
*******
They sang of the men on the quarter-deck—
Brave deeds of those captains bold!
Never a name but was known to fame,
And was praised, in the days of old.
Let us sing the song of the fighting men,
The sail and the plunging bow—
The good old song of the Sea and the Ship,
The song of the Then and Now!
II.
Gone are the days of the heave and haul
(Think ye our blood has thinned?);
We're slaves of steam and science,
Not toilers of the wind!
Oh, the cable comes in to the cable tiers,
And no one lifts a hand;
The click of a bell sounds out, "That's well!"
And the engines understand!
We come in 'gainst the wind and the tide at night
And go out 'gainst the storm in the morn.
(But think ye our arms have lost their might?
Think ye our locks are shorn?)
Past are the days of Wind and Sail,
We've cast off the thrall of the sea,
We take no heed of the weather-gage—
No fear of the rocks on the lee.
We can come and go in the fiercest blow
(It is food for our roaring fires!),
For the great screw churns and the huge hull turns
As the Soul of the Ship desires!
But the spirit, the strength, and the Will are there,
The sea has not changed her men;
The ship must do and the men must dare,
And Now is the same as Then!
They raked and they fought at pistol-shot—
We fight at two miles and more.
(Think ye their dangers discount ours,
Ye men of books ashore?)
The turret turns and the guns are trained—
But not in the older way;
The conning-tower is the one-man power
And the Soul of the Ship holds sway.
But in sponson, turret, and great barbette,
Or below in the noxious air,
Are brave forms covered with blood and sweat—
The fighting men are there!
There are dangers our fathers wot not of
(In the days of wind and sail):
The unseen foes and the sighted Death,
With the foam along the rail.
