Poems of James McIntyre Part 28

But they soon saw a great sword fish With its bayonet make a quick rush, Into which proved to be large whale, And thrasher too did it a.s.sail.

The whale dived deep to save its life, But thrasher eager for the strife, Knew whale must rise for to get breath, Then it would thrash the whale to death.

At last the great whale it arose, And in distress it spouts and blows, In anger sweeps its mighty tail, Defensive weapon of the whale.

But thrasher high in air did leap, And fell on monster of the deep, The sword fish then it did advance, And a.s.saulted it with its lance.

Thus united foes soon do prevail, And quick there floated a dead whale, The thrasher now victorious winner, From off the whale expected dinner.

But s.h.i.+p's crew they secured the prize, Whale bone and blubber monster size, Others fought but they only reap, The spoils of mammoth of the deep.

TIGER AND ELEPHANT.

On Ganges banks roams the tiger, And lion rules by the Niger, Hunter heard shrill cry of peac.o.c.ks, In Indian jungles go in flocks.

And he saw tiger crouch and spring, To crush a bird with beauteous wing, But the tiger missed his aim, And he hung his head with shame.

Then there came a mighty crush, Of elephants rush through the bush, The tiger cat-like crouched on ground, And elephants rushed in with bound.

In front was baby elephant, To crush its bones did tiger want, But mother saw fierce forest ranger, And she gave a cry of danger.

Leader of herd he madly rushed, Resolved the tiger should be crushed, But tiger strove to run away, Willing to relinquish prey.

But when he found that he must fight, On elephant's back he strove to light, But elephant struck him with his foot, And then with tusks he did him root.

So now once more must praise be sung, To beasts who n.o.bly fight for young, And grateful feelings were now stirred, Towards the leader of the herd.

STRANGE LIFE PRESERVER.

A sailor he was swept from deck, In minute he seem'd as a speck, Tossing on each briny wave, They feared the sea would be his grave.

Though they full quickly launched the boat, They could not see where he did float, He now was a long ways astern, His whereabouts they could not learn.

But while he on the waves did toss, He was seized by great Albatross, Who had been looking round in quest Of something whereon it could rest.[I]

It hover'd o'er him with its wings, And its great webb feet on him clings, And it tore him with its sharp beak, For it was longing for some steak.

But sailor seized it by the throat, And found with ease he then could float, So sailor's life was saved by loss Of the life of the Albatross.

The boat's crew found him none too soon, For he had fallen into a swoon, Him they would not have come across Had they not seen the Albatross.

And thus poor Jack his life was saved, For fierce rage of bird he braved, Though in a faint he still did cling, One arm round neck and one round wing.

For as a friend he did hug close That fine large bird the Albatross, Sailors row comrade back to s.h.i.+p, Where he relates his wondrous trip.

Sailors fear that many a cross[J]

Will fall on crew kill Albatross, This was slain in self defence, And so no harm it came from thence.

"The lone Albatross inc.u.mbent on the air."

[I] According to E. A. Poe the Albatross sleeps in air.

[J] See Coleridge's Ancient Mariner for the calamity befell a crew for wantonly killing this bird.

VIRTUES OF A DIAMOND RING.

Of the strange virtues of a ring, In simple strains we now will sing, Brave warrior of ancient France, Where danger was he did advance.

But he at last was struck by ball And on the battle field did fall, They dug for him a shallow grave And slightly cover'd warrior brave.

But his servant man with warm heart, Loathed with his master thus to part, So he moved soil from where he lay And found a lump of lifeless clay.

He turned away in sad despair, That could not be his master fair, That famed brave youth of n.o.ble birth, Now all stained o'er with blood and earth.

As he begins to move away The moon reflects on brilliant ray, From diamond ring on dead man's finger The servant now doth fondly linger.

For he knows it's his master's ring, And hopes to life he may him bring, In finger he discovers heat And hopes his heart it still may beat.

Though surgeons they p.r.o.nounce him dead, For long he bathes his breast and head, And slowly master did restore To fight more brave than he had before.

And now this tale to close we bring, Of warrior saved by a ring, Full oft again to fight for king, His praise his countrymen they sing.

CHILD SAVED BY DOG.

Johnston he is an engineer, He always looks if track is clear, For he hath a keen eagle eye, Danger afar he doth espy.

And he hath too a warm true heart, Of others woes he shares a part; One day he gazed far down the line, And a large dog he could define.

So eager busy on the track, In mouth it seemed to lift a pack, But it oftentimes did fail For to raise it o'er the rail.

The engineer put on his steam And he loud made his whistle scream, So that the dog would take alarm And thus preserve his life from harm.

This n.o.ble dog, it feared not danger, Fear to him it was a stranger, His mistress child he wished to save, And all the danger he would brave.