When I was a lad I went to sea
And they made a cabin boy of me.

Yo ho, haul away, my bullies!

We'd hardly put out from the bay
When my knees sagged in and my face turned grey;

So I went to the captain and I implored
That he'd let the pilot take me aboard,
And fetch me back to the land again
Where the earth was sure for the feet of men . . .

But the Captain, he laughed out strong, and said,
'You'll follow the sea, lad, till you're dead;
For it gets us all - the sky and the foam
And the waves and the wind, - till a ship seems home.'

When I shipped as an A.B. before the mast
I swore each voyage would be my last . . .
Was always vowing, and meant it too,
That I'd
never sign
with another crew . . .

You tell me 'The Castle' is outward bound,
An old sky-sailor, for Puget Sound?
'Too old!' . . . but I know the sea like a book . . .
Well, I've heard that your 'Old Man' needs a cook! . . .

Yes, I could rustle for twenty men . . .
So, God be praised, you can use me, then? . . .
Oh, there's only a few years left for me,
And I want to die, and be buried at - sea!