Classic Poem

Behind him lay the gray Azores,
Behind the Gates of Hercules;
Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.
The good mate said: " Now must we pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.
Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say? "
" Why, say " Sail on! sail on! and on!" "

" My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan, and weak. "
The stout mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.
" What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,
If we sight naught but seas at dawn? "
" Why, you shall say at break of day,
" Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!" "

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
" Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,
For God from these dread seas is gone.
Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say " —
He said: " Sail on! sail on! and on! "

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate:
" This mad sea shows his teeth to-night.
He lifts his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone? "
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
" Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on! "

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck,
And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck —
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! "