THE PEOPLE'S FLEET
Alfred Noyes · 1922
Out of her darkened fishing-ports they go,
A fleet of little ships, whose every name--
_Daffodil_, _Sea-lark_, _Rose_ and _Surf_ and _Snow_,
Burns in this blackness like an altar-flame;
Out of her past they sail, three thousand strong,
The people's fleet that never knew its worth,
And every name is a broken phrase of song
To some remembered loveliness on earth.
There's _Barbara Cowie_, _Comely Bank_ and _May_,
Christened, at home, in worlds of dawn and dew:
There's _Ruth_ and _Kindly Light_ and _Robin Gray_
With _Mizpah_. (May that simple prayer come true!)
Out of old England's inmost heart they sail,
A fleet of memories that can never fail.