Strange Life Preserver.

A sailor he was swept from deck,             In minute he seem'd as a speck,             Tossing on each briny wave,             They feared the sea would be his grave.             Though they full quickly launched the boat,             They could not see where he did float,             He now was a long ways astern,             His whereabouts they could not learn.             But while he on the waves did toss,             He was seized by great Albatross,             Who had been looking round in quest             Of something whereon it could rest.[I]             It hover'd o'er him with its wings,             And its great webb feet on him clings,             And it tore him with its sharp beak,             For it was longing for some steak.             But sailor seized it by the throat,             And found with ease he then could float,             So sailor's life was saved by loss             Of the life of the Albatross.             The boat's crew found him none too soon,             For he had fallen into a swoon,             Him they would not have come across             Had they not seen the Albatross.             And thus poor Jack his life was saved,             For fierce rage of bird he braved,             Though in a faint he still did cling,             One arm round neck and one round wing.             For as a friend he did hug close             That fine large bird the Albatross,             Sailors row comrade back to ship,             Where he relates his wondrous trip.             Sailors fear that many a cross[J]             Will fall on crew kill Albatross,             This was slain in self defence,             And so no harm it came from thence.             "The lone Albatross incumbent on the air."