William Brown

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Title:     William Brown
Author: James Whitcomb Riley [More Titles by Riley]

"He bore the name of William Brown"--
His name, at least, did not go down
With him that day
He went the way
Of certain death where duty lay.

He looked his fate full in the face--
He saw his watery resting-place
Undaunted, and
With firmer hand
Held others' hopes in sure command.--

The hopes of full three hundred lives--
Aye, babes unborn, and promised wives!
"The odds are dread,"
He must have said,
"Here, God, is one poor life instead."

No time for praying overmuch--
No time for tears, or woman's touch
Of tenderness,
Or child's caress--
His last "God bless them!" stopped at "bless"--

Thus man and engine, nerved with steel,
Clasped iron hands for woe or weal,
And so went down
Where dark waves drown
All but the name of William Brown.

[The end]
James Whitcomb Riley's poem: William Brown

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