Tripoli
From twoscore ports the smoke-wreaths crept, and a single
rocket skyward leapt To tell the brig in the offing that Decatur's work was
done, As the victors sprang to the ketch's deck, and pulled away
from the blazing wreck That reddened the tide to the harbor's neck, with news
of the glory won ! And the slim flames struck from rail to truck, till the haven
gleamed and glowed, And the whole wide night was ablaze with light where
Decatur's oarsmen rowed ; While Tripoli's sons from a hundred guns sent shot from
the shelving shore,
And the frigate replied with her last broadside an Ameri- can ship once more !
But Stewart had seen that Decatur's crew had done the
work that they came to do, And the boats of the brig lay close inshore, as the ketch
out-won her way ; Watching, the oarsmen, drawing near, pause in their rowing,
and, deaf to fear,
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