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the last of the gascoignes.
How fitfully moaned the now rising blast
Amongst the stout cordage of the tall mast.
The noble ship creaked and groaned
A dreary answer to the tempest's moan.
Gascoigne now stood on the quarter deck
Of the gallant frigate, alas! a destined wreck.
Calmly he watched the angry, raging tide
That foamed around the labouring frigate's side.
Across his face there played a half formed smile,
Which strangely mingled all the while
With the fearless look of his young handsome face,
And his proud, yet haughty, and careless grace.
Suddenly, and high above the raging gale,
A shriek arose, then a wild, despairing wail;
A heavy blow, and then a dreadful shock,
Alas! it was the frigate striking on a rock.
Her bulwarks by the mountain waves were torn,
Then far to leeward they were quickly borne.
Was this the frigate which the previous day
Swept proudly onward in her fair array?
Her timbers quivered to her very heart,
As from her keel they now were torn apart.
Gascoigne, with arms folded o'er his youthful breast,
Leant on the broken mainmast for a rest;
Fixing on the deep his fine dark hazle eye,
Amongst the stout cordage of the tall mast.
The noble ship creaked and groaned
A dreary answer to the tempest's moan.
Gascoigne now stood on the quarter deck
Of the gallant frigate, alas! a destined wreck.
Calmly he watched the angry, raging tide
That foamed around the labouring frigate's side.
Across his face there played a half formed smile,
Which strangely mingled all the while
With the fearless look of his young handsome face,
And his proud, yet haughty, and careless grace.
Suddenly, and high above the raging gale,
A shriek arose, then a wild, despairing wail;
A heavy blow, and then a dreadful shock,
Alas! it was the frigate striking on a rock.
Her bulwarks by the mountain waves were torn,
Then far to leeward they were quickly borne.
Was this the frigate which the previous day
Swept proudly onward in her fair array?
Her timbers quivered to her very heart,
As from her keel they now were torn apart.
Gascoigne, with arms folded o'er his youthful breast,
Leant on the broken mainmast for a rest;
Fixing on the deep his fine dark hazle eye,
