Messmates

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 battle-ships' 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.