e hear?
D' ye hear 'em shout?
They see it already, no doubt.
We shall have to count her out,--
That white breath was her last,--
She has given up the ghost!

What does the old Boss think?
Will he shrink?
Will he waver or falter now?--
A little shadow flits over his brow,
For the sharp pang in his heart,--
Flits over--and is gone,--
And a light looms up in his old gray eye,
Whether you see it or not,
That is like a sudden dawn
In a stormy sky!

What does he _think_?
What will he _do_?--
Well! he don't say!
But I'll tell you what,
You can bet your life,
As you would your knife,
And your wife, too,
He'll do
(And put 'em up at once!)--
He'll run these boats right up to their guns,
And take that Fort, or sink!

But, oh--oh, it was hot!
So thick and fast the solid shot
Upon our iron armor played,
It kept, like thunder, a kind of time--
Devil's tattoo or gallopade--
That, like an awful, awful rhyme,
Rang in the ear;
And they sent us cheer after cheer.

But the boys had been to _school_,
And _their_ guns were not cool;
For they knew what Cause they served,
And not a man of 'em swerved!
But on, right on, they swept,
And from every grim bow-port
Their nutmegs and shell-barks leaped
Into the jaws of the Fort!
And (to give her, perhaps, a chance to breathe)
Knocked out some of her big, black teeth!
And (to raise a better crop, no doubt,
Than was ever raised there before)
Ploughed her up into awful creases,
Inside and out!--
For now they were up and doing the chore
At only four hundred yards,
And the death-dealing shreds and shards
Of our shell were tearing 'em all to pieces!

Hurrah for the brave old Flag!
To triumph see her ride!--
Ha, ha! they dodge and duck,--
The Snake's expiring!
Their gunners run and hide,--
By heaven, they've struck!
Down comes the rattlesnake rag
By the run,--
Stop the firing!
The work is done!--

Anyhow, she'll do for batter!--
You see now, Butternuts, you were plucky;
But that ain't "what's the matter,"--
Not by a long shot!
No, no,--no! I'll tell you what--
And you mustn't take it at all amiss--
I'll tell you what the _matter_ is:
'Tain't because you were born unlucky,