Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - A Ballad or the French Fleet lyrics

A fleet with flags arrayed   Sailed from the port of Brest, And the Admiral's ship displayed   The signal: "Steer southwest." For this Admiral D'Anville   Had sworn by cross and crown To ravage with fire and steel   Our helpless Boston Town. There were rumors in the street,   In the houses there was fear Of the coming of the fleet,   And the danger hovering near. And while from mouth to mouth   Spread the tidings of dismay, I stood in the Old South,   Saying humbly: "Let us pray! "O Lord! we would not advise;   But if in thy Providence A tempest should arise   To drive the French fleet hence, And scatter it far and wide,   Or sink it in the sea, We should be satisfied,   And thine the glory be." This was the prayer I made,   For my soul was all on flame, And even as I prayed   The answering tempest came; It came with a mighty power,   Shaking the windows and walls, And tolling the bell in the tower,   As it tolls at funerals. The lightning suddenly   Unsheathed its flaming sword, And I cried: "Stand still, and see   The salvation of the Lord!" The heavens were black with cloud,   The sea was white with hail, And ever more fierce and loud   Blew the October gale. The fleet it overtook,   And the broad sails in the van Like the tents of Cushan shook,   Or the curtains of Midian. Down on the reeling decks   Crashed the o'erwhelming seas; Ah, never were there wrecks   So pitiful as these! Like a potter's vessel broke   The great ships of the line; They were carried away as a smoke,   Or sank like lead in the brine. O Lord! before thy path   They vanished and ceased to be, When thou didst walk in wrath   With thine horses through the sea!