The sea ! The sea both strange and vast !
Remember our dangers safely passed,
When the North wind blow as 'twould blow its last,
The thunder rolled, the lightning flashed,
Yet every man to his port stood fast.
And our English ship with her English mast,
Defied the waves, outlived the blast.
An English ship and an English mast.
And the seaman's life for me !
What though the winds do snarl and whip !
What though-her prow do rise and dip ;
She'll tear herself from the elements grip.
She'll raise the tankard to each man's lip,
We drink success to her every trip,
The gallant, old-fashioned English ship,
With her deck a-wash her sails a-drip.
Oh, a snarling wind, a deep-sea trip,
An English mast in an English, ship,
And the seaman's life for me !
William H Murray.
Notes
From the Western Australian Newspaper The Western Mail 21 Mar 1919 Page 38.
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