The Wreck of the Hesperus John Liptrot Hatton

It was the schooner Hesperus
That sailed the wintry sea;
And the skipper had taken his little daughter
To bear him company
Blue were her eyes as the fairy-flax
Her cheeks like the dawn of day
And her bosom white as the hawthorn buds
That ope in the month of May
The skipper he stood beside the helm
His pipe was in his mouth
And he watched how the veering flaw did blow
The smoke now West, now South
Thеn up and spake an old Sailor
Had sailed to the Spanish Main
"I pray thee, put into yondеr port
For I fear a hurricane
"Last night, the moon had a golden ring
And to-night no moon we see!"
The skipper, he blew a whiff from his pipe
And a scornful laugh laughed he
Colder and louder blew the wind
A gale from the Northeast
The snow fell hissing in the brine
And the billows frothed like yeast
Down came the storm, and smote amain
The vessel in its strength;
She shuddered and paused, like a frighted steed
Then leaped her cable's length
"Come hither! come hither! my little daughter
And do not tremble so;
For I can weather the roughest gale
That ever wind did blow."