Part V -- To Sea

"T'was vain of me to rely so
that she could ever love me so dear,
but I grew to burn as the sun for her
and I lived but to have her near."

"Ah, such folly, the wise men say,
to judge that people should ever hold
such, but she was a poet, and I 
thought her mind and heart were gold."

"Yet, no sooner had I knelt to drink
at the well that was her mind
than she was dry to my every longing
and she turned harsh and so unkind."

"Yet, lo, did I love her each day more
and sought a way to somehow make
the summer return, but I could not,
so I surrended for my mind's sake."

"Love is such folly -- mankind does not love.
It feels guilt and passion, it's true,
but a bee feels more love for a blossom
than a woman ever feels for you."

"Alas, but the sea from which life sprang
is eternal, unchanging, and it is there
when you need her soothing to bring sleep
and lull away the burdens of care."

"So it was that I turned to the sea
and shipped off a cook to sail
the unchanging change and hard comforting
with those who seek after the whale."

He paused and breathed a heavy sigh
and I could hear the tide rushing
and the swells of the waters in his breath
-- such comfort does the green sea bring!

"A sailor's lot is a joyous one," 
he continued to set forth his tale,
"and there was no greater conquest
than the battle was with the whale."

"For seven years did I ride the waves
and understood that it is to be free
only to walk the deck at night
surrounded by the heavens and the sea."

"Then came the day, it was in May,
the ship was rigged, and so we set
out to the brime, leaving behind
the land and all of its regrets."

"Past the craggy shore we slid
and on past the lighthouse beam,
leaving behind the coast that sank
behind us like a shadowy dream."

"T'was in the west, and we watched that morn
as the orange turned into the sun.
Light hearts were ours as we journeyed,
unknowing how it all would be undone."



Part VI -- The Voyage

"To the south and west we sailed,
for the captain knew well the whale
and their treks about the globe
as a doctor, flowing blood can tell."

"The red rose and the orange did set
and the silver chariot did fly
a dozen times, then a dozen more
across the cloudy, starry sky."

"Then came the mist, it was in June,
but it chilled throughout the crew
and grew into a blanket of fog
you could not see your mate through."

"The fog it laid for days and days,
first dark, then light, but strong so
that the captain had to hold his course
star-blind. Our speed was slowed."

"Through the night and through the day
the sea laid painted beneath the ship.
Only the clanging bell and whistle marked
the time that slowly by us slipped."

"Then came the sun back to the blue
and the waves were alive again.
It cleared as it had befallen us,
but by the night had turned to rain."

"And rain it did as I've not seen
on the sea or on the land,
so that the sea seemed in the sky
to reach out and take it in your hand."

"The rain washed on the deck and flowed
as Niagara over the side;
then it began to be blown by a blast,
and the wind would not subside."

"The crewmen talked of evil omens
as they sat at mess that night,
but they would not say a word of it
within the captain's sight."

"And when the sun came with the dawn,
fair sea and sky returned,
and the captain set the ship once more
on its course now truly learned."

"There was such calm for days on end
that the waters seemed as glass,
and we sailed on unhindered now.
We saw but one ship did pass."

"It broke upon the distant horizon
but scarcely had we but seen
it appear there than it slid beyond,
leaving unmarked where it'd been."

"Then one more week and captain said,
'Avast, men, now two days more,
we will do battle, so we shall rest here
upon yon island's welcome shore.'"


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