A sailor, too, in jerkin blue,
This strange appearance viewing,
First rubbed his eyes, in great surprise,
Then said some mischief's brewing.
* * * * *
Some fire cried, which some denied,
But said the earth had quakéd;
And girls and boys, with hideous noise,
Ran through the streets half naked.
* * * * *
The royal band now ready stand,
All ranged in dread array, sir,
With stomach stout, to see it out,
And make a bloody day, sir.
The cannons roar from shore to shore;
The small arms make a rattle;
Since wars began, I'm sure no man
E'er saw so strange a battle.
A hundred men, with each a pen,
Or more,—upon my word, sir,
It is most true,—would be too few
Their valor to record, sir.
[Footnote 75: A prominent author of the revolutionary era.]
[Footnote 76: In the revolutionary war, while the British held Philadelphia, some floating torpedoes were one day sent down the river to destroy their vessels, and this novel mode of attack caused the alarm described by the poet.]
* * * * *