University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

Page 28 text:

THE REDWOOD While thus I watched, I saw the side Of one torn open, gaping wide, Through which the waves did pour. At every shot it seemed to me That she must sink beneath the sea. But, no! Upon her deck I see, His face with battle all alight. Her gallant captain. To my ear His voice comes ringing, strong and clear, Surrender? Why I ' ve not begun to fight ! The scene is shifted, still my gaze Is backward bent to other years. Again I see the battle ' s haze; Again there echoes in my ears The growl of guns, loud-mouthed and deep, That cries that human life is cheap. Upon a battered hulk that flies The stars and stripes I see A captain lying in his blood, That gushes in a crimson flood Unceasingly. His face is ashen and his eyes Are glassed in death, and yet he cries, Framing the words with shaking lip That since have echoed to the skies: Men, don ' t give up the ship!

Page 27 text:

THE REDWOOD Suddenly a single cheer rang out. Some sharper eye than all the rest Had seen a white shape in the West. Then from ten thousand throats An answering shout As, one by one, the giant boats, White sides agleam, Took form and shape before our eyes, And gradually grew in size, Until at length in solemn state They ranged beneath us through the Gate. Then did the forts on either shore, Thunder salutes across the strait, With smoke and blaze, And deafening roar That madly smote the air. But with unseeing gaze And vacant stare, As in a dream, I watched the smoke ' s e ' er-thickening haze. My mind was fixed on other days; My thoughts were otherwhere. I saw in fancy, side by side, Two wooden ships upon the tide. Their decks were wet with gore. Their angry guns, with their fiery breath, Unceasingly belched forth fresh death, With ever deepening roar. It seemed to me their voice in hate Cried ever for more blood to sate The awful greed of war.

Page 29 text:

THE REDWOOD 13 Again the scene is changed. A day Like this it is, the first of May ; And from the land a gentle breeze Just tips with spray The rippling seas, And clears away The smoke of battle to disclose The sunken ships of Spain. Here lie the latest of our foes. The battle of Manila bay Has not been fought in vain! But in my ear Suddenly rings a louder cheer Than those that went before. Our fleet is anchored and at rest Within the harbor of the West. Its voyage long is o ' er. All joyously I homeward go. My heart is glad because I know That hearts today as bravely beat Upon the ships of our great fleet As those of long ago, That while America is free Her strength and her supremacy Will ne ' er be questioned on the sea By either friend or foe. Maurice T. Dooling, Jr., ' 09.