I'm looking for the complete words to Arthur Somers Roche's poem "The Coast Guard Cutter". About 4 - 6 stanzas long, as I remember. I saw it posted in a few units during my career, but can't for the life of me find a copy now. Thanks in advance.

I could only find two stanzas... I'll see if I can find more. Let me know if you recognize this:

The Coast Guard Cutter


When she steams into the harbor
People don’t flock round like bees,
For she ain’t no grim destroyer
No dark terror of the seas.
And there ain’t a load of romance
To the guy that doesn’t know
In a ship that just saves vessels
When the icy northers blow.
When the old storm signal’ flyin’
Every vessel seeks a lee,
“Cept the Cutter, which ups anchor
And goes ploughing out to sea,
When the hurricane’s a blowin’
From the banks to old Cape Cod
Oh, the Cutter with her searchlight
Seems the messenger of God.
Anon.

That's the first part. There's more, but I can't remember how much. Looks like about half maybe. Thanks for that much.

I'll keep trying to search for more!

Okay, the second stanza is what I've newly found... I've now found 3 stanzas. If all seems familiar, is there more?

When she steams into the harbor
People don’t flock ’round like bees;
For she ain’t no grim destroyer,
No dark terror of the seas.
And there ain’t a load of romance
To the guy that doesn’t know,
In a ship that just saves vessels
When the icy northers blow.

But the men that sail the ocean
In a wormy, rotten craft,
When the sea ahead is mountains
With a hell-blown gale abaft;
When the mainmast cracks and topples,
And she’s lurching in the trough,
Them’s the guys that greet the “Cutter”
With the smiles that won’t come off.

When the old storm signal’s flyin’,
Every vessel seeks a lee,
“Cept the “Cutter”, which ups anchor
And goes ploughing out to sea,
when the hurricane’s a-blown’
From the banks of old Cape Cod
Oh, the “Cutter”, with her searchlight,
Seems the messenger of God.

That looks like it. Great! Where did you find it? I'm printing this out right now, and saving hard copy.

I think there's one more stanza, there's a part about women, who mostly know.

https://chuckhillscgblog.net/heritage/

Many websites had it listed as an unknown author which it why it was so tough to find! Here’s one of the websites I found it on.

I found this... http://www.sebagosailors.org/index....wners-list

THE COAST GUARD CUTTER

When the old storm signal's flyin',
Every vessel seeks a lee,
'Cept the Cutter, which ups anchor
And goes poughing out to sea;
When the hurricane's a-blowin'
From the Banks to old Cape Cod,
Oh, the Cutter, with her searchlight,
Seems a messenger of God.

- Arthur Somers Roche

Personally, I am struck by the first stanza of this same poem;

Oh, she ain't packed down with cannon,
She's got no torpedo tube;
And promises no glory
To attract the country rube.
For her crew don't brag of killin',
nor the joys of bloody strife;
For they're tendin' to their business,
Which is savin' human life.

Roche's work is unbelievable. I just looked at the three stanzas I succeeded in finding and realized he alternates syllables. 8, 7, 8, 7... Plus, he has a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d,e,f,e,f... format. Poem is very well written. Old Guard, is the second stanza you posted part of The Coast Guard Cutter by Roche? Maybe that's the last stanza we're missing in the poem! Quite the puzzle. It seems like many websites don't have the full complete poem.