Classic Poem

Fight while the timbers shriek, the rigging wails:
Thou knowest not what vast issues may depend
Upon thy courage and thy faith, O friend—
Fight while the hoarse shot whizzes through the sails.
Nail to the mast-head with defiant nails
The flag that only love's own breeze can bend:
Fight the brave vessel till the very end,—
While angry powder-smoke sweeps round in gales.

Fight while the ship rocks under thee,—and then,
When timber parts from timber, smile and thank
God in the face of all the world of men
That standing-room is left thee on one plank:
And when that plank fails, should this last thing be,
Why then in God's name stand upon the sea!