THE FUNERAL FLEET.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 115, 17 May 1870, Page 3

THE FUNERAL FLEET.

War ships ere now have veiled their warlike state, And hid their bravery in mourning grey, j To bear across the sea a funeral freight — j Great admiral, or great captain passed away, j But now what admiral's, what captain's bier Doth our majestic Monarch bear o'er sea, That thus in ashen grey she shrouds her gear, And half-mast flies her flag thus mourningly ? Wherefore this mortuary chapel fair Above this coffin, with immortelles crowned, These stalirart sailors "with bowed heads and bare, In an unwonted death-watch ranged around ? Some mighty man of war this needs must be, Thus by an English war-ship gravewards borne, In a Columbian war-ship's companyOne whom two nations wreath their flags to mourn ! He was a warrior — thus proudly borne, Thus proudly conveyed o'er sea to his grave, But one whose battle-fields no scrolle adorn Where fame writes the achievements of the brave. He fought the silent fight with want and woe— The fight whose right-hand knoweth not the deed Their left-hand doeth, who no trumpet blow, Assert no merit, and demand no meed. A captain in the warfare, under Christ Captain in chief— against suffering and sin, Who in love's strength, unpricing, and unpriced, Went forth, his victory over these to win ! On such a warrior's body it seems well That Old World's war-ship with New World's attend, Augury of the time when love shall quell Warfare to peace, and turn each foe to friend. — Punch.