Matheson Collection > Measgra dánta

200 NOTES
Bless our good ship, O Lord of heavenly hosts ;
Save us from winds, from waves and dangerous coasts ;
Let thy celestial angels spread their shields
And guard us safely tlirough these azure fields.
calm the roaring of the angry storm.
Nor let its fvirious blasts the sea deform ;
Check the fierce vernal v/inds till we escape
The threat'ning dangers of yon dreary cape.
1 grieve to leave Temora's splendid seats.
Where heroes dwell, monarchical retreats
Where ancient hunters shouted through the vate.
And near the svinny streams prolong the tale.
Do thou, O Lord, direct our swelling sails
Through raging oceans with propitious gales ;
Where angry storms their dreadful strife maintain.
Let smiling suns and gentle breezes reign.
Stout is my well-built ship the storm to bear.
Aloft her masts and cordage rise in air.
While her proud bulk frowns awful on the main,
And seems the fortress of the liquid plain.
She braves the shock of fight and cleaves the storm
Where ruin wears its most tremendous form ;
On the fierce necks of foaming waves she rides.
And through the sea her course trivunphant guides.
As though beneath her frown each wind were dead.
And each blue valley were their silent bed,
When her sharp keel, where dreadful splendours play,
Cuts through the foaming main her liquid way.
Her stately side a glossy polish shows.
And gunnel bright with golden lustre glows ;
Her speckled bosom in the deep she laves.
And high in air her curling ensign waves.