<i>1914-18 -- Sea Warfare</i> <br /> <br /> <br />Where the East wind is brewed fresh and fresh every morning, <br />And the balmy night-breezes blow straight from the Pole, <br />I heard a Destroyer sing: "What an enjoya- <br />ble life does one lead on the North Sea Patrol! <br /> <br />"To blow things to bits is our business (and Fritz's), <br />Which means there are mine-fields wherever you stroll. <br />Unless you've particular wish to die quick, you'll a- <br />void steering close to the North Sea Patrol. <br /> <br />"We warn from disaster the mercantile master <br />Who takes in high Dudgeon our life-saving role, <br />For every one's grousing at Docking and Dowsing <br />The marks and the lights on the North Sea Patrol." <br /> <br /><i> [Twelve verses omitted.]</i> <br /> <br />So swept but surviving, half drowned but still driving <br />I watched her head out through the swell off the shoal, <br />And I heard her propellers roar- "Write to poor fellers <br />Who run such a Hell as the North Sea Patrol!"<br /><br />Rudyard Kipling<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-north-sea-patrol/
