TO YE WORTHY SAILOR MAN
Sailor-man! Sailor-man!
Sail on—and sing if you can:
“Sail on with a heart full of cheer,
With a confidence strong and sincere.
Fight out life’s daily battles without fretting or fear.
Tho’ your fond hopes may fail,
Never sit down with a tear to wail;
Just trim your sail to meet the ever-shifting gale
Of success and good-fortune; never despair.
Success and good-fortune, ever await those who persistently persevere.”
Sailor-man—tho’ it may seem hard to die,
To pass away and leave no trace behind,
No sign, no token of thy dark or bright career,
No glorious name to dower posterity,
Yet, oh, oh yet, he that doeth good, is honest and kind,
Or he who falls fighting bravely the righteous battle is just as dear,
Is just as worthy and deserving in God’s eyes
As he who wins on earth immortal victories.
To serve thy great Creator faithfully
Should be thy constant solace and delight.
Truth and principle are worth more to thee
Than all the riches of earth’s treasury bright.
Better a life of worthy poverty and honorable defeat,
Than kingdoms won through oppression and deceit.
Sailor-man, sailor-man, the pure at heart alone are glad.
True happiness in bosom vile can never dwell.
The vain-glorious and the criminal both alike are sad.
Bid, then, to pride, vanity and malevolence farewell.
Sailor-man, sailor-man, in thy rectitude serene and strong,
Having done thy “lubber mates” no wrong,
So live on, sailor-man, that when thou shalt die,
To the mystic realms of Death thou shalt go trustingly;
With no guilt at thy heart, and no shame on thy face,
But being worthy, and confident still of His mercy and grace,
So thou shalt stand without fear in the grand, solemn courts Upon High,
Foreseeing that a kind, loving Wisdom beyond the dank grave
Will never let perish one single, pure, precious worthy life that He gave.
Sailor-man, sailor-man
Sail on, it soon will be dawn.
Sail on, without fretting or fear.
The darkness is lifting—no breakers are near!
Sailor-man, sail on, with a heart full of cheer!