Classic Poem

We the pretty mermaids know
Dandy Dewey.
E'en the devil down below
Heard of Dewey.
Killed so many Dons that day
Fighting in Manila Bay,
Even Satan had to say:
" Dandy Dewey. "

You were itching for a chance,
Dandy Dewey,
To attend a Spanish dance,
Dandy Dewey,
And your gunners played so well
That the dancing shot and shell
Waltzed their ships below, pell-mell,
Dandy Dewey!

It was on the first of May,
Dandy Dewey,
Was it Retribution Day,
Dandy Dewey?
Rather tough on poor old Spain,
But somehow the sailor's brain
Keeps remembering the Maine ,
Dandy Dewey!

'T was a message short and sweet,
Dandy Dewey:
" Take or sink the Spanish fleet! "
Dandy Dewey!
Well you followed out the plan,
Losing neither ship nor man;
But the awful risk you ran,
Dandy Dewey!

Stealing up Manila Bay,
Dandy Dewey,
Where the dread torpedoes lay,
Dandy Dewey,
With the darkness like a pall,
Knowing not what might befall,
Was the bravest deed of all,
Dandy Dewey.

Will the story e'er be told,
Dandy Dewey,
Of the tars and gunners bold,
Dandy Dewey,
How they swept the water clean,
Till the Spanish now, I ween,
Have a navy, sub-marine,
Dandy Dewey?

As the ships came down below,
Dandy Dewey,
Mermaids shouted up: " Hello!
Dandy Dewey! "
We had all the news ahead; —
We the cable message read:
" Take the fleet alive or dead, "
Dandy Dewey!

Now Manila's lost a letter,
Dandy Dewey —
Does it sound in English better,
Dandy Dewey?
When henceforth the name be writ,
Change the spelling just a bit;
For you knocked " l " out of it,
Dandy Dewey!

Spain once ruled o'er half the earth,
Dandy Dewey;
She is now of little worth,
Dandy Dewey;
Having lost her occupation,
She's another old-time nation
Living on her reputation,
Dandy Dewey.

All the mermaids loudly claim
Dandy Dewey
Is most worthy of his fame!
Dandy Dewey
Has been crowned by acclamation:
" Naval hero of the nation! "
None can claim a higher station,
Dandy Dewey.