Classic Poem

Five fearless knights of the first renown
In Elizabeth's great array,
From Plymouth in Devon sailed up and down —
American sailors they;
Who went to the West,
For they all knew best
Where the silver was grey
As a moonlit night,
And the gold as bright
As a midsummer day —
A-sailing away
Through the salt sea spray,
The first American sailors.

Sir H UMPHREY Gilbert , he was ONE
(And Devon was heaven to him),
He loved the sea as he loved the sun
(And hated the Don as the Devil's limb —
Hated him up to the brim!):

In Holland the Spanish hide he tanned,
He roughed and routed their braggart band,
And God was with him on sea as land;
Newfoundland knew him, and all that coast,
For he was one of America's host —
And now there is nothing but English speech
For leagues and leagues, and reach on reach
From near the Equator away to the Pole;
While the billows beat and the oceans roll
On the Three Americas.

Sir F RANCIS D RAKE , and he was TWO
(And Devon was heaven to him),
He loved in his heart the waters blue
(And hated the Don as the Devil's limb —
Hated him up to the brim!):
At Cadiz he singed the King's black beard,
The Armada met him, and fled afeared,
Great Philip's golden fleece he sheared;
Oregon knew him, and all that coast,
For he was one of America's host —
And now there is nothing but English speech
For leagues and leagues, and reach on reach
From California away to the Pole;
While the billows beat and the oceans roll
On the Three Americas.

Sir W ALTER R ALEIGH , he was THREE
(And Devon was heaven to him),
There was nothing he loved so well as the sea
(He hated the Don as the Devil's limb —
Hated him up to the brim!):
He settled full many a Spanish score,
Full many's the banner his bullets tore
On English, American, Spanish shore;
Guiana knew him, and all that coast,
For he was one of America's host —
And now there is nothing but English speech
For leagues and leagues, and reach on reach
From Guiana northward to the Pole;
While the billows beat and the oceans roll
On the Three Americas.

Sir R ICHARD G RENVILLE , he was FOUR
(And Devon was heaven to him),
He loved the waves and their windy roar
(And hated the Don as the Devil's limb —
Hated him up to the brim!):
He whipped him on land and mocked him at sea,
He laughed to scorn his sovereignty,
And with the Revenge beat his fifty-three;
Virginia knew him, and all that coast,
For he was one of America's host —
And now there is nothing but English speech
For leagues and leagues, and reach on reach
From the Old Dominion away to the Pole;
While the billows beat and the oceans roll
On the Three Americas.

And Sir J OHN H AWKINS , he was FIVE
(And Devon was heaven to him),
He worshipped the water while he was alive
(And hated the Don as the Devil's limb —
Hated him up to the brim!):
He chased him over the Spanish Main,
He scoffed and defied the navies of Spain —
His cities he ravished again and again;
The Gulf it knew him, and all that coast,
For he was one of America's host —
And now there is nothing but English speech
For leagues and leagues, and reach on reach
From the Rio Grande away to the Pole;
While the billows beat and the oceans roll
On the Three Americas.

Five fearless knights have filled gallant graves
This many and many a day,
Some under the willows, some under the waves —
American sailors they;
And still in the West
Is their valor blest,
Where a banner bright
With the ocean's blue
And the red wrack's hue
And the spoondrift's white
Is smiling to-day
Through the salt sea spray
Upon American sailors.