It is a wonder, this tough, tiny isle,
With such a load of metal and of men,
That she can sleep, that she can sleep and smile,
While half the planet twitters 'Where?' and 'When?*
This is the hardest task that man has tried;
This is the strangest voyage since the Ark:
But this is England, empress of the tide,
And, calm and cool, she sails into the dark.