- description
- # The Old Stone Fleet.
## Overview
This is a segment of text extracted from [battle_pieces_and_aspects_of_the_war.txt](arke:01KG89J1G8S4TRWXNCBRKCRKS8), representing the poem "The Old Stone Fleet." It is a segment within the [Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War.](arke:01KG8AJ6FNQ0XKWBY52P8DRPC9) poetry collection. The segment spans lines 449-484 of the source file.
## Context
This poem is part of [Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW) and appears in *Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War*, a collection reflecting on the American Civil War. It is preceded by the poem "[The Stone Fleet. An Old Sailor’s Lament.](arke:01KG8AJKCSKMA863MZ6NKQQFW8)" and followed by "[Donelson.](arke:01KG8AJKCQKAJVEH1V8BXEHWC7)" in the collection.
## Contents
The segment contains the complete text of the poem "The Old Stone Fleet," which laments the sinking of old ships, referred to as the "Stone Fleet." The poem references specific ships such as the *Tenedos*, *Kensington*, *Richmond*, *Leonidas*, and *Lee*. It describes the scuttling of these ships and reflects on the futility of the act, as nature and currents render the effort a failure. The poem consists of six stanzas, each ending with a variation of the phrase "Stone Fleet."
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T20:48:22.365Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- The Old Stone Fleet.
- end_line
- 484
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T20:47:35.910Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 449
- text
- I scudded round the Horn in one--
The Tenedos, a glorious
Good old craft as ever run--
Sunk (how all unmeet!)
With the Old Stone Fleet.
An India ship of fame was she,
Spices and shawls and fans she bore;
A whaler when her wrinkles came--
Turned off! till, spent and poor,
Her bones were sold (escheat)!
Ah! Stone Fleet.
Four were erst patrician keels
(Names attest what families be),
The Kensington, and Richmond too,
Leonidas, and Lee:
But now they have their seat
With the Old Stone Fleet.
To scuttle them--a pirate deed--
Sack them, and dismast;
They sunk so slow, they died so hard,
But gurgling dropped at last.
Their ghosts in gales repeat
_Woe’s us, Stone Fleet!_
And all for naught. The waters pass--
Currents will have their way;
Nature is nobody’s ally; ’tis well;
The harbor is bettered--will stay.
A failure, and complete,
Was your Old Stone Fleet.
- title
- The Old Stone Fleet.