Ho, ferry, ho!
The river is in spate:
You cannot cross to-night.
Yet I must go
To-night: I cannot wait
Till morning light.

Come, you too then
Must grasp the guiding-rope
And haul the boat with me —
Grasp as doomed men
Clutching at their last hope.
Ay, willingly!

Before we land,
Come, pay your passage, if you'd live
To draw another breath —
Unloose one hand ...
See, with both hands I give
The full toll — death!