Classic Poem

FATHER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY

John Barry was a Commodore in darksome times of trial;
(No doubt they called him “Jack” upon the sea!)
He raked the foemen aft and fore, of that there's no denial;
“Jack” Barry is the Commodore for me!

Upon the little Lexington , the Stars and Stripes a-flying,
He put out from the Delaware upon a winter's day;
“Oh, there'll be fun for fourteen gun!” sooth, that was his replying
To those who came to cheer him on the morn he sailed away!

Ah, there was snowy smother on the wild Atlantic surges,
And long chill watches underneath the stars!
The flaw it blew, the scud it flew, off bleak Virginian verges,
But naught could cool the valor of those gallant Yankee tars.

And then at last there dawned an hour when in the south was sighted.
A bark that flung the Union Jack upon the April breeze;
“Lay to!” exclaimed the Commodore, “I'm sure they'll be delighted
To meet another Lexington, this time upon the seas!”

Then there was fun for fourteen gun, all in the April weather,
For they smashed her and they gashed her, masts and spars;
And through the windy homeward run they held her fast in tether,
The first to strike the Union Jack before the Stripes and Stars.

Then wrote my great Lord Howe to him, with words as sweet as honey:
“Come!—here are golden guineas, and a stanch ship of the line!”
Sent Barry back, “I would not come for all your Judas money,
Nor for all your British navy that's afloat upon the brine!”

John Barry was a Commodore in darksome times of trial;
(No doubt they called him “Jack” upon the sea!)
He raked the foemen aft and fore, of that there's no denial;
“Jack” Barry is the Commodore for me!