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Wireless


The ships call night and day,
They call both far and near . . .
And a hundred words have they, —
Warning, counsel and cheer.

They call, they call and they cry,
They call, and their words are whirled
Under the rim of the sky,
Over the edge of the world.

The ships call each to each,
They call anear and afar;
As deep unto deep their speech,
As star calling to star.

The ships call night and day,
They call both far and near,
And a hundred words have they,
But never the one word — 'Fear!'

Notes

From RHYMES OF THE RED ENSIGN, edited by Cicely Fox Smith, published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK, © 1919, p. 39.

The header graphic is a photo of the wireless room aboard the USS Cheyenne, 1916.

Jim Saville

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