THE AFFAIR OF THE “TRENT” (1861).
Source.—Punch, December 14, 1861. (Reprinted by special permission of the proprietors of Punch.)
Waiting for an Answer.
1.
Britannia waits an answer, sad and stern,
Her weapons ready, but unsheathed they lie;
In her deep eye, suppressed, the lightnings burn,
Still the war-signal waits her word to fly.
2.
Wrong has been done that flag whose stainless folds
Have carried freedom wheresoe’er they flew:
She knows sharp words fit slaves and shrewish scolds,
She but bids those who can, that wrong undo.
3.