| |
| THUS said the Lord in the vault above the cherubim, | |
| Calling to the angels and the souls in their degree; | |
| “Lo! Earth has passed away | |
| On the smoke of Judgment Day. | |
| That our word may be established shall we gather up the sea?” | 5 |
| |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners: | |
| “Plague upon the hurricanes that made us furl and flee! | |
| But the war is done between us, | |
| In the deep the Lord hath seen us— | |
| Our bones we ’ll leave the barracout, and God may sink the sea!” | 10 |
| |
| Then said the soul of Judas that betrayed Him: | |
| “Lord, hast Thou forgotten Thy covenant with me? | |
| How once a year I go | |
| To cool me on the floe, | |
| And Ye take my day of mercy if Ye take away the sea!” | 15 |
| |
| Then said the soul of the angel of the Offshore Wind: | |
| (He that bits the thunder when the bullmouthed breakers flee): | |
| “I have watch and ward to keep | |
| O’er Thy wonders on the deep, | |
| And Ye take mine honor from me if Ye take away the sea!” | 20 |
| |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners: | |
| “Nay, but we were angry, and a hasty folk are we! | |
| If we worked the ship together | |
| Till she foundered in foul weather, | |
| Are we babes that we should clamor for a vengeance on the sea!” | 25 |
| |
| Then said the souls of the slaves that men threw overboard: | |
| “Kennelled in the picaroon a weary band were we; | |
| But Thy arm is strong to save, | |
| And it touched us on the wave, | |
| And we drowsed the long tides idle till Thy trumpets tore the sea.” | 30 |
| |
| Then cried the soul of the stout Apostle Paul to God: | |
| “Once we frapped a ship, and she labored woundily. | |
| There were fourteen score of these, | |
| And they blessed Thee on their knees, | |
| When they learned Thy grace and glory under Malta by the sea.” | 35 |
| |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners, | |
| Plucking at their harps, and they plucked unhandily: | |
| “Our thumbs are rough and tarred, | |
| And the tune is something hard— | |
| May we lift the Dipsea Chantey such as seamen use at sea?” | 40 |
| |
| Then said the souls of the gentlemen adventurers— | |
| Fettered wrist to bar all for red iniquity: | |
| “Ho, we revel in our chains | |
| O’er the sorrow that was Spain’s; | |
| Heave or sink it, leave or drink it, we were masters of the sea!” | 45 |
| |
| Up spake the soul of a gray Gothavn ’speckshioner— | |
| (He that led the flinching in the fleets of fair Dundee): | |
| “Ho, the ringer and right whale, | |
| And the fish were struck for sale, | |
| Will Ye whelm them all for wantonness that wallow in the sea?” | 50 |
| |
| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners, | |
| Crying: “Under Heaven, here is neither land nor lea! | |
| Must we sing for evermore | |
| On the windless, glassy floor? | |
| Take back your golden fiddles and we ’ll beat for open sea!” | 55 |
| |
| Then stooped the Lord, and he called the good sea up to Him, | |
| And ’stablished His borders unto all eternity, | |
| That such as have no pleasure | |
| For to praise the Lord by measure | |
| They may enter into galleons and serve Him on the sea. | 60 |
| |
| Sun, wind and cloud shall fail not from the face of it, | |
| Stringing, ringing spindrift nor the fulmar flying free, | |
| And the ships shall go abroad | |
| To the glory of the Lord, | |
| Who heard the silly sailor men and gave them back their sea! | 65 |
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