[The title means "King William."] The pointed beard, the courteous mien, The doublet's modest gray or brown, Yet 'twas the king of England's kings! (1896) I tale. Number. a equal port. Same manner. [This is a sailor's "chantey," in praise of the great British Admiral, Sir Francis Drake, who was born in Devonshire, 1540, and was buried at sea in the Caribbean, January, 1596. The poem embodies one of many legends respecting Drake's promise to return to the help of England in case of need.] Drake he's in his hammock an' a thousand mile away (Capten, art tha sleepin' there below?), Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,1 An' dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe.2 |