Drake's drum

[Drake he's in his hammock and a thousand miles away,
(Captain, art thou sleeping there below?)
Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,
And dreaming all the time of Plymouth Hoe.
Yonder looms the Island, yonder lie the ships,
With sailor-lads a-dancing heel-an'-toe,
And the shore-lights flashing, and the night-tide dashing,
He sees it all so plainly as he saw it long ago.]1
Drake he was a Devon man, an' ruled the Devon seas,
(Captain, art thou sleeping there below?)
Roving tho' his death fell, he went with heart at ease,
And dreaming all the time of Plymouth Hoe.
"Take my drum to England, hang it by the shore,
Strike it when your powder's running low;
If the Dons sight Devon, I'll quit the port o' Heaven,
And drum them up the Channel as we drummed them long ago."
Drake he's in his hammock till the great Armadas come,
(Captain, art thou sleeping there below?)
Slung atween the round shot, listening for the drum,
And dreaming all the time of Plymouth Hoe.
Call him on the deep sea, call him up the Sound,
Call him when you sail to meet the foe;
Where the old trade's plying and the old flag flying
They shall find him ware and waking, as they found him long ago!

by Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938) , "Drake's drum", from Admirals All and Other Verses, published 1897

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (1868-1946) , "Drake's drum", published 1927 [TTBB chorus a cappella], from Three Sea Songs, no. 2.
by George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) , "Drake's drum", <<1931.
by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) , "Drake's drum", published 1906. [SA chorus and piano (?)]
by Arthur Farwell (1872-1952) , "Drake's drum", published <<1940.
by Walter William Hedgcock (1864-?) , "Drake's drum"
by Lady Barrett Leonard , "Plymouth hoe", published <<1940.
by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) , "Drake's drum", op. 91 no. 1, published 1904 [TTBB chorus and orchestra], from Songs of the Sea, no. 1.
by J. R. Wheeler , "Drake's drum", published 1939. [voice and piano]
by Herbert James Wrightson (1869-1949) , "Drake's drum", published 1924. [medium voice and piano]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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