Aloft the Master bade a Seaman go, To mark if, from the mast's aspiring height Through all the round a vessel came in sight. Too soon the Seaman's glance, extending wide, Far distant in the east a ship espy'd, Her lofty masts stood bending to the gale, Close to the wind was brac'd each shivering sail; Next from the deck we saw the approaching foe, Her spangled bottom seem'd in flames to glow When to the winds she bow'd in dreadful haste And her lee-guns lay delug'd in the waste: From her top-gallant flow'd an English Jack; With all her might she strove to gain our track, Nor strove in vain--with pride and power elate, Wing'd on by hell, she drove us to our fate; No stop no stay her bloody crew intends, (So flies a comet with its host of fiends) Nor oaths, nor prayers arrest her swift career, Death in her front, and ruin in her rear. Struck at the sight, the Master gave command To change our course, and steer toward the land-- Swift to the task the ready sailors run, And while the word was utter'd, half was done: As from the south the fiercer breezes rise Swift from her foe alarm'd Aurora flies, With every sail extended to the wind She fled the unequal foe that chac'd behind; Along her decks dispos'd in close array Each at its port, the grim artillery lay, Soon on the foe with brazen throat to roar; But, small their size, and narrow was their bore; Yet faithful they their destin'd station keep To guard the barque that wafts them o'er the deep, Who now must bend to steer a homeward course And trust her swiftness rather than her force, Unfit to combat with a powerful foe; Her decks too open, and her waist too low. While o'er the wave with foaming prow she flies, Once more emerging, distant landscapes rise; High in the air the starry streamer plays, And every sail its various tribute pays: To gain the land we bore the weighty blast; And now the wish'd for cape appear'd at last; But the vext foe, impatient of delay, Prepar'd for ruin, press'd upon her prey; Near, and more near, in aweful grandeur came The frigate _Iris_, not unknown to fame; _Iris_ her name, but _Hancock_ once she bore, Fram'd and completed on New Albion's shore, By Manly lost, the swiftest of the train That fly with wings of canvas o'er the main. Now, while for combat some with zeal prepare, Thus to the heavens the Boatswain sent his prayer: "List, all ye powers that rule the skies and seas! "Shower down perdition on such thieves as these, "Fate, strike their hearts with terror and dismay, "And sprinkle on their powder salt-sea spray! "May bursting cannon, while his aim he tries, "Destroy the Gunner, and be-damn his eyes-- "The chief who awes the quarter-deck, may he, "Tripp'd from his stand, be tumbled in the sea. "May they who rule the round-top's giddy height "Be canted headlong to perpetual night; "May fiends torment them on a leeward coast,