The Great White Fleet

Great White Fleet Over the great horizon line, Where the star-gem'd sky and the waters meet; All in the hush of the silent night, Like white-souled birds in an endless flight- Gleam the sails of a Great White Fleet! Up from the war-spoiled wreck they rise, From the tangled depth of the seaward spray; And they sigh as they loosen their sails to the wind, For they leave the mouldering hulks behind, As the spirit leaveth the clay. And each, as it passes, the same story breathes Of a ship-builder's dream, of their country's need, Of the wasted labor of skill-taught hands; Builded for naught but the wanton demands Of that hate-breeding monster of greed. One met her fate as a warrior brave, Honoring the dead sovereign's name she bore; One, human-lade, bound for country and home, Unsuspecting of harm when she sank neath the foam Near Erin's sun-kiss'd shore. Oh, never before such a motley fleet Cast its shadows athwart in the darkling deep: From the tiniest craft to the white Liner-Star And the stealthy 'marine and the bold man-of-war; While the pale stars their benisons keep. And ever they pass o'er that mystical line Where the waters of earth and eternity meet; And onward they glide to the harbor of Peace, And there, till the war-waging conflict shall cease, Shall be waiting that Great White Fleet. Provo, Utah. Viva Huish Ray.