Sir Francis Drake – Circumnavigator Extraordinaire
A vast majority of individuals will travel through their life and not impact the world around them. They will contribute a minimum to society and will leave no footprints behind. Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was not one of these people, not only did he impact the world around him, he conquered it as well. The life he led will go down in history, and his name will be remembered until the end of time for being the astonishing individual that he turned himself into. With consideration of all the incredible people whom he encountered during his five and fifty years, it is in great honor that I may speak during the hour of his death.
Employed under our majesty, Queen Elizabeth I, Drake conquered the seas with an iron fist. He was an extremely loyal subject to our Queen and would have done anything to protect her. Whether this be defeating the Spanish Armada, giving the Queen and England itself a stunning victory. Onto a more personal level, in which I witnessed; when one of her subjects pulled a sword on her, he was right by her side, baring his own dagger, protecting our majesty from the potential threat.
He was an outstanding navigator and sea captain, who accomplished circumnavigating the entire globe. Drake was a brave leader to many and used these skills to help bring down the mighty Spanish Armada. He saved countless of his soldiers’ lives on many occasions and was truly an honor to serve under, for his guidance was often life-saving. "There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory." (Francis) These are the words of Francis Drake, and can truly encompass the vast amount of feats which Drake partook upon. I believe that Drake found his true glory and within that glory was making something of himself and rising well above his impoverished beginnings.
Drake held the first protestant church service in the New World, which can show that he was a true man of God and that he had good moral character. He brought our people great riches, claimed new lands and conquered foreign places. This is probably why the Queen entrusted him in the second highest position in the British Army during the war against the Spaniards.
It brought him great satisfaction and happiness when our majesty Queen Elizabeth I knighted Sir Francis Drake, and forever after they had a relationship that only the most important people could hold with a woman in such high power. He shared his riches with her and only wanted to please her, for she was his queen and was the one who had made it possible for him to do as much as he did.
He was a born warrior and leader, even during his last hours of death. Before being laid to rest into the sea, he requested that he be adorned in his full armor suit. I will conclude with a poem regarding Drake’s defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588:
Drake, he's in his hammock till the great Armadas come,
(Captain, art tha sleepin' there below?)
Slung atween the roundshot, list'ning for the drum,
And dreamin' arl the time o' Plymouth Hoe.
Call him on the deep sea, call him up the Sound, Call him when ye sail to meet the foe;
Where the old trade's plyin' an' the old flag flyin',
They shall find him, ware an' wakin', as they found him long ago. (Newbolt)
May God let his soul rest for all of eternity.

Works Cited
"Francis Drake." Wikiquote. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2011. <en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Francis_Drake>.
Newbolt, Henry. "Drake's Drum." published in the St. John's Gazette (first published in book form in Admirals All, and Other Verses 1897)