Thomas Hardy

The Sea Fight

  In Memoriam Captain Prowse

Down went the grand ‘Queen Mary’,
‘Queen Mary’s’ captain, and her crew;
The brunt of battle bare he,
And he died;
And he died, as heroes do.

More really now we view him,
More really lives he, moves with men,
Than while on earth we knew him
As our fellow,
As our fellow-denizen.

Maybe amid the changes
Of ocean’s caverned dim profound,
Gaily his spirit ranges
With his comrades,
With his comrades all around.