And paced the carpet down,
"Alte Himmel!"—the prisoners cried—"Some one's trod on the German pride,
And dared the Hansa frown!"
The Admiral called for a fountain pen
And Reference Sheets[1] galore,
And silence fell on the smoking-room—for Grosse-Admiral Hansa-Zoom
Was throwing a Gage of War.
"Can I believe your Lordships mean
To stand so idly by—
When a young lieutenant of twenty-four, pleading the need of Naval War,