The Lord is a man of war!
So the strong wind to the muse is given
In victory's roar.

Deep be the ode that hymns the fleet--
The fight by night--the fray
Which bore our Flag against the powerful stream,
And led it up to day.
Dully through din of larger strife
Shall bay that warring gun;
But none the less to us who live
It peals--an echoing one.

The shock of ships, the jar of walls,
The rush through thick and thin--
The flaring fire-rafts, glare and gloom--
Eddies, and shells that spin--
The boom-chain burst, the hulks dislodged,
The jam of gun-boats driven,
Or fired, or sunk--made up a war
Like Michael's waged with leven.

The manned Varuna stemmed and quelled
The odds which hard beset;
The oaken flag-ship, half ablaze,
Passed on and thundered yet;
While foundering, gloomed in grimy flame,
The Ram Manassas--hark the yell!--
Plunged, and was gone; in joy or fright,
The River gave a startled swell.