Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
France: Vols. IX–X. 1876–79.
The Bay of Biscay O!
By Andrew Cherry (1762–1812)L
The rain a deluge showers;
The clouds were rent asunder
By lightning’s vivid powers!
The night both drear and dark,
Our poor devoted bark,
Till next day, there she lay,
In the Bay of Biscay O!
Her opening timbers creak,
Each fears a watery pillow,
None stops the dreadful leak!
To cling to slippery shrouds,
Each breathless seaman crowds,
As she lay, till the day,
In the Bay of Biscay O!
Broke through the hazy sky;
Absorbed in silent sorrow,
Each heaved a bitter sigh!
The dismal wreck to view,
Struck horror to the crew
As she lay, on that day,
In the Bay of Biscay O!
Her pitchy seams are rent,
When Heaven, all bounteous ever,
Its boundless mercy sent;
A sail in sight appears,
We hail her with three cheers,
Now we sail, with the gale,
From the Bay of Biscay O!