Ballad Of The Armada

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  King Philip had vaunted his claims;
  He had sworn for a year he would sack us;
  With an army of heathenish names
  He was coming to fagot and stack us;
  Like the thieves of the sea he would track us,
  And shatter our ships on the main;
  But we had bold Neptune to back us -
  And where are the galleons of Spain?

  His carackes were christened of dames
  To the kirtles whereof he would tack us;
  With his saints and his gilded stern-frames
  He had thought like an egg shell to crack us;
  Now Howard may get to his Flaccus,
  And Drake to his Devon again,
  And Hawkins bowl rubbers to Bacchus -
  For where are the galleons of Spain?

  Let his Majesty hang to St. James
  The axe that he whetted to hack us;
  He must play at some lustier games
  Or at sea he can hope to out-thwack us;
  To his mines of Peru he would pack us
  To tug at his bullet and chain;
  Alas! that his Greatness should lack us! -
  But where are the galleons of Spain?

ENVOI

GLORIANA! the Don may attack us
Whenever his stomach be fain;
He must reach us before he can rack us,  -
And where are the galleons of Spain?

© Henry Austin Dobson