And the deep had buried his best-loved books, With many a hard-worn chart and plan: And a king that is conquered must see strange looks, So bitter a thing is the heart of man! And--"Who will you find to pay your debt? For a venture like this is a costly thing! Will they stake yet more, tho' your heart be set On the mightier voyage you planned for the Spring?" He raised his head like a Viking crowned,-- "I'll take my old flag to her Majestie, And she will lend me ten thousand pound To make her Queen of the Ocean-sea!" _Ever the more, ever the more, He heard the winds and the waves roar! Thunder on thunder shook the shore._ Outside--they heard the great winds blow! Outside--the blustering surf they heard, And the bravest there would ha' blenched to know That they must be taken at their own word. For the great grim waves were as molten lead --And he had two ships who sailed with three!-- "And I sail not home till the Spring," he said, "They are all too frail for the Ocean-sea." But the trumpeter thought of an ale-house bench, And the cabin-boy longed for a Devonshire lane, And the gunner remembered a green-gowned wench, And the fos'cle whisper went round again,-- "Sir Humphrey Gilbert is hard of hand, But his courage went down with the ship, may-be, And we wait for the Spring in a desert land, For--_he is afraid of the Ocean-sea_." _Ever the more, ever the more, He heard the winds and the waves roar! Thunder on thunder shook the shore._ He knew, he knew how the whisper went! He knew he must master it, last or first! He knew not how much or how little it meant; But his heart was heavy and like to burst. "Up with your sails, my sea-dogs all! The wind has veered! And my ships," quoth he, "They will serve for a British Admirall Who is Knight-in-chief of the Ocean-sea!" His will was like a North-east wind That swept along our helmless crew; But he would not stay on the _Golden Hynde_, For that was the stronger ship of the two. "My little ship's-company, lads, hath passed Perils and storms a-many with me! Would ye have me forsake them at the last? They'll need a Knight of the Ocean-sea!" _Ever the more, ever the more, We heard the winds and the waves roar! Thunder on thunder shook the shore._ Beyond Cape Race, the pale sun splashed The grim grey waves with silver light Where, ever in front, his frigate crashed Eastward, for England and the night. And still as the dark began to fall, Ever in front of us, running free, We saw the sails of our Admirall Leading us home through the Ocean-sea.