Then we spurted like mad, and gained more and more,
Till the two boats were scarcely six inches apart,
Our coxswain alternately cheered us and swore,
To let off the steam from his fast-beating heart.
Easy all! ’Tis a bump! ’Tis a bump, I’ll be sworn!
I was glad, for my back had begun to give way.
Our cheers on the wings of the evening were borne,
And our boat became head of the river that day.
From Lays of Modern Oxford, by Adon.
Chapman and Hall, London, 1874.