Tell ye the story far and wide, | |
| Ring out ye bells with mournful toll | |
| For the valiant crew of Monomoy | |
| Who sleep on Handkerchief Shoal. | |
| |
| Brave were the men of Monomoy | 5 |
| Who went with a willing hand | |
| To bring their storm-wrecked fellow-men | |
| Through the angry seas to land. | |
| |
| For the gale blew fierce, and the seas ran wild, | |
| And the crew were all but lost, | 10 |
| But the boat sped on through the angry deep | |
| Like a shell on the breakers tost. | |
| |
| True were the men of Monomoy, | |
| Each true to his duty’s call; | |
| No thought of self, no dread of death, | 15 |
| Eyes seaward, and that was all. | |
| |
| And the wreck was made, and the boat turned back, | |
| When a monster wave swept o’er | |
| And swallowed the boat of Monomoy, | |
| And the crew were seen no more. | 20 |
| |
| Dead are the men of Monomoy, | |
| They sleep in a watery grave; | |
| They rest upon the treach’rous shoal | |
| With the men they sought to save. | |
| |
| And the storms sweep down, and the seas roll in, | 25 |
| And the ships their course pursue, | |
| But the sea holds fast to its noble sons, | |
| For it loves strong hearts and true. | |
| |
| Great are the men of Monomoy, | |
| Men whose names shall never fade; | 30 |
| No soldiers on the battlefield | |
| E’er nobler sacrifice made. | |
| |
| And proud are the wives of Monomoy, | |
| Sons proud of their valiant dead; | |
| And proud is the world of souls like theirs, | 35 |
| Whose glory shall ever spread. | |
| |
| Tell ye the story far and wide, | |
| Ring out ye bells with mournful toll | |
| For the valiant sons of Monomoy | |
| Who sleep on Handkerchief Shoal. | 40 |
| |
