The Beaches of Lukannon two million voices strong.
_The song of pleasant stations beside the salt lagoons,
The song of blowing squadrons that shuffled down the dunes,
The song of midnight dances that churned the sea to flame
The Beaches of Lukannon before the sealers came!_
I met my mates in the morning (I ll never meet them more!);
They came and went in legions that darkened all the shore.
And o er the foam-flecked offing as far as voice could reach
We hailed the landing-parties and we sang them up the beach.
_The Beaches of Lukannon the winter wheat so tall
The dripping, crinkled lichens, and the sea-fog drenching all!
The platforms of our playground, all shining smooth and worn!
The Beaches of Lukannon the home where we were born!_
I met my mates in the morning, a broken, scattered band.
Men shoot us in the water and club us on the land;
Men drive us to the Salt House like silly sheep and tame,
And still we sing Lukannon before the sealers came.
_Wheel down, wheel down to southward; oh, Gooverooska, go!
And tell the Deep-Sea Viceroys the story of our woe;
Ere, empty as the shark s egg the tempest flings ashore,
The Beaches of Lukannon shall know their sons no more!_
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
At the hole where he went in
Red-Eye called to Wrinkle-Skin.
Hear what little Red-Eye saith:
Nag, come up and dance with death!
Eye to eye and head to head,
(_Keep the measure, Nag._)
This shall end when one is dead;
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