| |
| BEHIND him lay the gray Azores, | |
| Behind the Gates of Hercules; | |
| Before him on the ghost of shores, | |
| Before him only shoreless seas. | |
| The good mate said: “Now we must pray, | 5 |
| For lo, the very stars are gone. | |
| Brave Adm’r’l speak; what shall I say?” | |
| “Why say: ‘Sail on! sail on! sail on!’” | |
| |
| “My men grow mutinous day by day; | |
| My men grow ghastly wan and weak.” | 10 |
| The stout mate thought of home; a spray | |
| Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek. | |
| “What shall I say, brave Adm’r’l, say, | |
| If we sight naught but seas at dawn!” | |
| “Why you shall say at break of day: | 15 |
| ‘Sail on! sail on! sail on! sail on!’” | |
| |
| They sailed and sailed, as the winds might blow | |
| Until at last the blanched mate said: | |
| “Why, not even God would know | |
| Should I and all my men fall dead. | 20 |
| These very winds forgot their way, | |
| For God from these dread seas is gone, | |
| Now speak, brave Adm’r’l; speak and say”— | |
| He said: “Sail on! sail on! sail on!” | |
| |
| They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: | 25 |
| “This mad sea shows its teeth tonight. | |
| He curls his lips, he lies in wait, | |
| With lifted teeth, as if to bite! | |
| Brave Adm’r’l, say but one good word; | |
| What shall we do when hope is gone!” | 30 |
| The words leapt as a leaping sword: | |
| “Sail on! sail on! sail on! sail on!” | |
| |
| Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck, | |
| And peered through darkness. Ah, that night | |
| Of all dark nights! And then a speck— | 35 |
| A light! A light! A light! A light! | |
| It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! | |
| It grew to be Time’s burst of dawn. | |
| He gained a world; he gave that world | |
| Its grandest lesson: “On! sail on!” | 40 |
| |
