The New Morning | Page 6

that was fresh from the Clyde,
And a secret her skipper had
never confessed,
Not even at dawn, to his newly-wed bride;
And a

wireless that whispered above, like a gnome,
The laughter of London,
the boasts of Berlin....
O, it may have been mermaids that lured her
from home;
But nobody knew where Kilmeny had been.
It was dark when Kilmeny came home from her quest
With her
bridge dabbled red where her skipper had died;
But she moved like a
bride with a rose at her breast,
And _Well done Kilmeny!_ the
Admiral cried.
Now, at sixty-four fathom a conger may come
And nose at the bones
of a drowned submarine;
But--late in the evening Kilmeny came
home,
And nobody knew where Kilmeny had been.
There's a wandering shadow that stares at the foam,
Though they sing
all the night to old England, their queen. Late, late in the evening,
Kilmeny came home;
And nobody knew where Kilmeny had been.
CAP'N STORM-ALONG
They are buffeting out in the bitter grey weather,
_Blow the man
down, bullies, blow the man down!_
_Sea-lark_ singing to _Golden
Feather_,
And burly blue waters all swelling aroun'.
There's
_Thunderstone_ butting ahead as they wallow,
With death in the
mesh of their deep-sea trawl;
There's _Night-Hawk_ swooping by
wild _Sea-swallow_;
And old Cap'n Storm-along leading 'em all.
_Bashing the seas to a welter of white,
Look at the fleet that he leads
to the fight.
O, they're dancing like witches to open the ball;
And
old Cap'n Storm-along's lord of 'em all._
Now, where have you seen such a bully old sailor?
His eyes are as
blue as the scarf at his throat;
And he rolls on the bridge of his
broad-beamed whaler,
In yellow sou'wester and oil-skin coat.
In
trawler and drifter, in dinghy and dory,
Wherever he signals, they
leap to his call;
They batter the seas to a lather of glory,
With old

Cap'n Storm-along leading 'em all.
_You'll find he's from Devon, the sailor I mean,
Look at his whaler
now, shipping it green.
O, Fritz and his "U" boat must crab it and
crawl
When old Cap'n Storm-along sails to the ball._
Ay, there is the skipper that knows how to scare 'em.
_Blow the man
down, bullies, blow the man down!_
Look at the sea-wives he keeps
in his harem,
Wicked young merry-maids, buxom and brown:

There's _Rosalind_, the sea-witch, and _Gipsy_ so lissom,
All
dancing like ducks in the teeth of the squall,
With a bright eye for
Huns, and a Hotchkiss to kiss 'em;
For old Cap'n Storm-along's lord
of 'em all.
_Look at him, battering darkness to light!
Look at the fleet that he
leads to the fight!
O, hearts that are mighty, in ships that are small,

Your old Cap'n Storm-along's lord of us all._
THE BIG BLACK TRAWLER
The very best ship that ever I knew,
--_Ah-way O, to me O_--
Was
a big black trawler with a deep-sea crew--
_Sing, my bullies, let the
bullgine run._
There was one old devil with a broken nose
--_Ah-way O, to me O_--

He was four score years, as I suppose--
_But, sing, my bullies, let
the bullgine run._
We was wrecked last March, in a Polar storm
--_Ah-way O, to me
O_--
And we asked the old cripple if his feet was warm--
_Sing, my
bullies, let the bullgine run._
And the old, old devil (he was ninety at the most)
--_Ah-way O, to
me O_--
Roars, "Ay, warm as a lickle piece of toast"--
_So sing, my
bullies, let the bullgine run._

"For I soaked my sea-boots and my dungarees
--_Ah-way O, to me
O_--
In the good salt water that the Lord don't freeze"--
_Oh, sing,
my bullies, let the bullgine run._
NAMESAKES
But where's the brown drifter that went out alone?
--_Roll and go,
and fare you well_--
Was her name Peggy Nutten? That name is my
own.
_Fare you well, my sailor._
They sang in the dark, "Let her go!
Let her go!"
And she sailed to the West, where the broad waters flow;

And the others come back, but ... the bitter winds blow.
_Ah, fare
you well, my sailor._
The women, at evening, they wave and they cheer.
--_Roll and go,
and fare you well_--
They're waiting to welcome their lads at the pier.

_Fare you well, my sailor._
They're all coming home in the
twilight below;
But there's one little boat.... Let her go! Let her go!

She carried my heart, and a heart for the foe.
_Ah, fare you well, my
sailor._
The _Nell_ and the _Maggie_, the _Ruth_ and the _Joan_,
--_Roll
and go, and fare you well_--
They come to their namesakes, and leave
me alone.
_Fare you well, my sailor._
And names are kep' dark, for
the spies mustn't know;
But they'll look in my face, an' I think it will
show;
Peggy Nutten's my name. Let her go! let her go!
_Ah, fare
you well, my sailor._
WIRELESS
Now to those who search the deep,
_Gleam of Hope_ and _Kindly
Light_,
Once, before you turn to sleep,
Breathe a message through
the night.
Never doubt that they'll receive it.
Send it, once, and
you'll believe it.
Wrecks that burn against the stars,
Decks where death is wallowing

green,
Snare the breath among their