Three Ships...
Sebastian Cabot returned from Spain,
To delight in England's shores,
He needed a route to old Cathay
To trade his wool for furs,
The Straits were held by the Spanish Dons
The Cape by the Portuguese,
Between them, strangling English trade,
He championed English needs.
So he formed the Merchant Adventurers,
To seek out a north-east route,
Each man hand-picked for his diligence
And conformity, to suit;
They had to be 'knit in unitie,
Obedience in everie degree',
So that no dissent would afflict them when
At mercy of tides and sea.
He chose three sturdy sailing ships
To seek the fabled course,
That would take them over the top of the world
Where man hadn't been before,
The Bona Confidentia
Was a ship of ninety tons,
Carrying victuals to serve the crews
For a voyage of fifteen months.
The Edward Bonaventura carried
The pilot of the fleet,
The seadog, Richard Chancellor,
A seaman, most complete.
But then, the Bona Speranza carried
The leader of the three,
A soldier with no ocean skills,
Sir Hugh - Hugh Willoughby.
They sailed at last by Greenwich there,
By Good King Hen-ery,
He bid them well, and weather fair
As they headed toward the sea,
But the winds blew up, and the seas were rough
And they sheltered for forty days,
Along the English coastline that
Was hidden in mist and haze.
They sailed past Scandinavia
Toward the Lapland coast,
So close that they could hail each other
To save one being lost,
But by the Lofotan Islands there
[...] Read more
poem by David Lewis Paget
Added by Poetry Lover
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