Battler with the fierce Atlantic,
Hail! Britannia's Vanguard, hail!
Tempests wild, and billows frantic,
O'er thee never shall prevail.
Thou art mighty! thou art peerless!
Storm may howl, or ocean foam;
Thou art steadfast; thou art fearless;
Firm in thy eternal home.

Thou hast waged the war of ages;
Borne the fury of the Past;
Still the ceaseless conflict rages,—
Thou defiest still the blast.
Still unvanquished, thou art braying
Every charge that thunders by;
Vain the elemental raving,—
Vain the wrath of sea and sky!

Shipwrecks, deaths, and desolations,
Hurricanes have round thee rolled;
Strewed about thy dark foundations
Bales of silk and bars of gold.
Rocks majestic! cliffs stupendous!
Ye have heard the midnight cry;
Hurled before the surge tremendous
Seen the struggling sailor die.

Burns the beacon! Brightly, beacon,
Flash thy warning o'er the waves;
For the mountain billows break on,
For the fearful tempest raves!
There are brave ships on the ocean;
There are dear men on the deep:—
Save! or else in mad commotion
Hearts will break and orphans weep.

In thy caves what spoils are lying,—
Persian pearl and Indian gem,
Bright as those that, price defying,
Shine in princely diadem.
Loved ones fondly, dearly cherished,
Rest beneath thy foaming wave;
Here, a mother's hope hath perished,
There, a father's found a grave.

Sweeps the tempest,—they are quiet;
Roar the billows,—calm they lie:
Hear they not the ocean's riot,
Heed they not the whirlwind's sigh.
Oh! methinks those caves are holy;
Sacred is that flinty bed;
There they rest in slumbers lowly
Till the sea shall yield her dead.

Battler with the fierce Atlantic,
Hail! Britannia's Vanguard, hail!
Tempests wild, and billows frantic,
O'er thee never shall prevail.
Thou art glorious! thou art fearless!
Storm may howl, or ocean foam:
Thou art lone, and stern, and peerless,—
Firm in thy eternal home!