“The bay was faithful, wild or still, / To the heart of the ocean far away.”

Sea Poetry Monday eases towards harbor:


The Leadsman's Song, Charles Dibdin

For England, when with favouring gale,
Our gallant ship up Channel steered,
And scudding, under easy sail,
The high blue western lands appeared,
To heave the lead the seaman sprang,
And to the pilot cheerly sang,
        “By the deep—Nine.”

And bearing up to gain the port,
Some well-known object kept in view,
An abbey tower, a ruined fort,
A beacon to the vessel true;
While oft the lead the seaman flung,
And to the pilot cheerly sung,
        “By the mark—Seven.”

And as the much-loved shore we near,
With transport we behold the roof
Where dwelt a friend or partner dear,
Of faith and love and matchless proof.
The lead once more the seaman flung,
And to the watchful pilot sung,
        “Quarter less—Five.”

Now to her berth the ship draws nigh,
With slackened sail she feels the tide,
Stand clear the cable is the cry,
The anchor's gone, we safely ride.
The watch is set, and through the night,
We hear the seaman with delight
        Proclaim—“All's well.”


This gives me flashbacks to Life on the Mississippi. Dibdin, however, was not Mark Twain, but rather an English singer, songwriter, composer, dramatist, and opera writer of the late 18th/early 19th century.

---L.

Subject quote from The Piper of Arll, Duncan Campbell Scott.