The queen-like countess on the deck,
The royal youth beside:
And all was bright, as the White Ship
Cut through the sparkling spray;
Though still her shadow, omen like,
Dark on the waters lay.
One long, wild shriek—that hidden rock!
The ship has perished there:—
"Back with you all, out with the boat,
Save England's royal heir."
"Pause, on your lives!" Back sprung the prince
Upon the shattered deck:
"My sister!" Safely in his arms
He bore her from the wreck.
Cold, pale, the morning slowly broke;
Upheld upon the mast,
Two, only two, remained to tell
What in that night had past.
The one was master of that ship,
That fair ship nothing now—
O never more he'll set her sails,
Or guide her stately prow!
He thought but of his royal freight:
"Is he among the dead?"
"I saw," the other said, "the wave
Close o'er Prince Henry's head."
"And who shall to our native shore
The dismal tidings bear;
And tell the king he has no son,
The throne it has no heir?"
"Not I, not I, my noble prince,
At least I'll share thy grave:"
The master loosed his hold and plunged
Beneath the fated wave.
Wo was in merry England,
A deep and lasting wo—
A father wept above the sea,
His children slept below.L. E. L
