Messmates by Henry Newbolt

Messmates

by Henry Newbolt



He gave us all a good-bye 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 battleship's 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.