173

The decapitated words are in italics—

The ship rode in an eastern bay,
Asleep astern the master lay,
A stern and rugged man was he,
And, like a tern, at home at sea.
Like swooping ern he caught his prey
Whene’er an R.N. came his way;
But while due N. the needle kept
He in his cabin lay and slept.

The ern, or erne, is the sea-eagle.

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