Messmates

HE gave us all a good-by cheerily At the first dawn of day;
We dropped him down the side full drearily When the light died away.
It’s a dead dark watch that he’s a-keeping there,
And a long, long night that lags a-creeping there,
Where the Trades and the tides roll over him,
And the great ships go by.

He’s there alone, with green seas rocking him
For a thousand miles round ;
He’s there alone, with dumb things mocking him.
And we 're homeward bound.
It’s a long, lone watch that he’s a-keeping there,
And a dead cold night that lags a-creeping there.
While the months and the years roll over him.
And the great ships go by.

I wonder if the tramps come near enough,
As they thrash to and fro,
And the battleships’ bells ring clear enough
To be heard down below ;
If through all the lone watch that he’s a-keeping there,
And the long, cold night that lags a-creeping there,
The voices of the sailor-men shall comfort him
When the great ships go by.