?2 4 RUDYARD KIPLING'S VERSE
God speed the Mary of the Tower, the Sovereign, and Grace
Dieu, The Sweepstakes and the Mary Fortune, and the Henry
of Bristol too !
All tall ships that sail on the sea, or in our harbours stand, That they may keep measure with Harry our King and peace in
Engeland!
THE WET LITANY
/"HEN the water's countenance
Blurrs 'twixt glance and second glance; Then our tattered smokes forerun Ashen 'neath a silvered sun; When the curtain of the haze Shuts upon our helpless ways
Hear the Channel Fleet at sea:
Libera nos Domine !
When the engines' bated pulse Scarcely thrills the nosing hulls; When the wash along the side Sounds, a-sudden, magnified; When the intolerable blast Marks each blindfold minute passed;
When the fog-buoy's squattering flight Guides us through the haggard night; W r hen the warning bugle blows; When the lettered doorways close; When our brittle townships press,
Impotent, on emptiness;