The Spectral Sailor - A Sea Chantey Poem by Mary Naylor

“The sky is blue, but life is cruel, ”
Said Tom, once a jolly salt.

Tell us your tale, as we sail!
Woe ho, yo ho,
Tell us your tale, lad!

“Ah, life can be glad, but life can be sad.
A merry mariner stole my love’s heart from me!

Tell us your tale, as we sail,
Woe ho, yo ho,
Tell us your tale, lad!

“Don’t worry about me, I know there be,
Plenty of fish in this sea.”

Tell us your tale, as we sail,
Woe ho, yo ho,
Tell us your tale, lad!

“She left me - fine! You won’t see me sit and pine.”
And, then, he jumped into the sea!

Now, on ghostly nights, when the moon is bright,
In the fog, there floats a luminous light,

And a watery, whispery sigh that cries,
“She was the only one for me! ”

A wraithlike crew in the waters blue,
Echoes a ghostly refrain,

Tell us your tale, as we sail,
Woe ho, yo ho,
Tell us your tale, lad!