Ye sacred arks of Liberty! that float
Where Tamar's waters spread their bosom wide,
That seem, with towering stern and rampart stride,
Like antique castles girt with shining moat:
Should War the signal give with brazen throat,
No more recumbent here in idle pride,
Your rapid prows would cleave the foaming tide,
And to the nations speak in thundering note.
Thus in the firmament serene and deep,
When summer clouds the earth are hanging o'er,