Classic Poem

1.

We can no longer stay on shore,
Since we are so deep in debt,
So a voyage to Greenland we will go
Some money for to get, brave boys.

2.

Now when we lay at Liverpool
Our good-like ship to man,
'Twas there our names were all written down
And we're bound for Greenland, brave boys.

3.

It was eighteen hundred and twenty-four
On March the twenty-third,
We hoisted our colors up to the masthead
And for Greenland bore away, brave boys.

4.

But when we came to Greenland,
Our good-like ship to moor,
O then we wished ourselves back again,
With our friends upon the shore, brave boys.

5.

The boatswain went up to the masthead,
With his spyglass in his hand,
" Here's a whale, a whale, a whale, " he cried,
" And she blows at every spring, brave boys. "

6.

The captain on the quarter deck,
A very good man was he,
" Overhaul, overhaul, your boat tackle fall,
And launch your boats to sea, brave boys. "

7.

The boats being launched and the hands got in,
The whale fishes appeared in view.
Resolved was the whole boat's crew
To steer where the whale fish blew, brave boys.

8.

The whale being struck and the line paid out,
She gave a flash with her tail,
She capsized the boat and lost five men
Nor did we catch the whale, brave boys.

9.

Bad news unto our captain brought,
That we had lost 'prentice boys,
He hearing of this dreadful news
The colors down did haul, brave boys.

10.

The losing of this whale, brave boys,
Did grieve his heart full sore,
But the losing of his five brave men
Did grieve him ten times more, brave boys.

11.

Come, weigh your anchors, my brave boys,
For the winter stars I see,
It is time we should leave this cold country
And for England bear away, brave boys.

12.

For Greenland is a barren place,
Neither light nor day is to be seen,
Naught but snow and ice where the whale fish blow,
And the daylight seldom seen, brave boys.