Genre:

Essay, Poetry

Subjects:

Steamships, Military Technology, Engineers, War, Futurism

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Navy

    Requests 'many other Men of War in Armour' besides the mail-clad hms Warrior. Lamenting the passing of the 'Wooden Walls of Old England' (wooden-hulled ships), notes that 'Ribs of steel are our ships, / Engineers are our men', and that 'steam frigates and rams' are now needed to compete with 'the French' whose 'iron-bound vessels' can 'very soon send a three-decker full of men to the bottom'. Anticipates a day when even these 'Ironside of the Ocean' will be superseded.