One daring leap in the dark,

Three mortal hours, at the most, And hell lies stiff and stark

On a hundred leagues of coast.

For the mighty Gulf is ours,

The bay is lost and won,
An Empire is lost and won!
Land, if thou yet hast flowers,
Twine them in one more wreath

Of tenderest white and red,
(Twin buds of glory and death!)
For the brows of our brave dead,
For thy Navy's noblest Son.

Joy, O Land, for thy sons,
Victors by flood and field!
The traitor walls and guns
Have nothing left but to yield;·
(Even now they surrender!)

And the ships shall sail once more,
And the cloud of war sweep on