The Poetical Works of William Motherwell/Song of the Danish Sea-King
Song of the Danish Sea-King.
Our bark is on the waters deep, our bright blade’s in our hand,
Our birthright is the ocean vast—we scorn the girdled land;
And the hollow wind is our music brave, and none can bolder be
Than the hoarse-tongued tempest raving o’er a proud and swelling sea!
Our bark is dancing on the waves, its tall masts quivering bend
Before the gale, which hails us now with the hollo of a friend ;
And its prow is sheering merrily the upcurled billow’s foam,
While our hearts, with throbbing gladness, cheer old Ocean as our home!
Our eagle-wings of might we stretch before the gallant wind,
And we leave the tame and sluggish earth a dim mean speck behind;
We shoot into the untracked deep, as earth-freed spirits soar,
Like stars of fire through boundless space—through realms without a shore!
Lords of this wide-spread wilderness of waters, we bound free,
The haughty elements alone dispute our sovereignty;
No landmark doth our freedom let, for no law of man can mete
The sky which arches o'er our head—the waves which kiss our feet!
The warrior of the land may back the wild horse, in his pride;
But a fiercer steed we dauntless breast—the untamed ocean tide;
And a nobler tilt our bark careers, as it quells the saucy wave,
While the Herald storm peals o'er the deep the glories of the brave.
Hurrah! hurrah! the wind is up—it bloweth fresh and free,
And every cord, instinct with life, pipes loud its fearless glee;
Big swell the bosomed sails with joy, and they madly kiss the spray,
As proudly, through the foaming surge, the Sea-King bears away!