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1892
“And there was no more sea”
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 |
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| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners: | |
| “Plague upon the hurricane 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 |
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| Then said the soul of Judas that betrayèd 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 Off-shore Wind: | |
| (He that bits the thunder when the bull-mouthed breakers flee): | |
| “I have watch and ward to keep | |
| O’er Thy wonders on the deep, | |
| And Ye take mine honour from me if Ye take away the sea!” | 20 |
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| 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 clamour for a vengeance on the sea?” | 25 |
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| Then said the souls of the slaves that men threw overboard: | |
| “Kennelled in the picaroon a weary band were we; | |
| But Thy arm was strong to save, | |
| And it touched us on the wave, | |
| And we drowsed the long tides idle till Thy Trumpets tore the sea.” | 30 |
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| Then cried the soul of the stout Apostle Paul to God: | |
| “Once we frapped a ship, and she laboured 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 |
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| 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 a Deepsea 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 grey Gothavn ’speckshioner— | |
| (He that led the flenching in the fleets of fair Dundee): | |
| “Oh, the ice-blink white and near, | |
| And the bowhead breaching clear! | |
| Will Ye whelm them all for wantonness that wallow in the sea?” | 50 |
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| Loud sang the souls of the jolly, jolly mariners, | |
| Crying: “Under Heaven, here is neither lead nor lee! | |
| Must we sing for evermore | |
| On the windless, glassy floor? | |
| Take back your golden fiddles and we’ll beat to open sea!” | 55 |
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| Then stooped the Lord, and He called the good sea up to Him, | |
| And ’stablishèd its 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 |
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| Sun, Wind, and Cloud shall fail not from the face of it, | |
| Stinging, ringing spindrift, nor the fulmar flying free; | |
| And the ships shall go abroad | |
| To the Glory of the Lord | |
| Who heard the silly sailor-folk and gave them back their sea! | 65 |
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