The Derelict

Fifteen men on the dead man's chest--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!"
The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike,
The bos'n brained with a marlinspike
And Cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped
By fingers ten;
And there they lay,
All good dead men,
Like break-o'-day in a boozing-ken--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of a whole ship's list--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be-damned and the rest gone whist!--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore--
And the scullion he was stabbed times four.
And there they lay
While soggy skies
Dripped down in their
Up-staring eyes--
Like a murk sunset and a foul sunrise--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of 'em stiff and stark--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the Murder mark--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
'Twas a cutlass swipe, or an ounce of lead,
Or a yawning hole in a battered head--
And the scuppers glut with a rotting red.
And there they lay--
Aye, damn my eyes!--
All lookouts clapped
On paradise--
All souls bound just contrariwise--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men of 'em good and true--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Every man jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold,
With a ton of plate in the middle hold,
And the cabins riot of loot untold.
And they lay there
That took the plum,
With the sightless glare
And their lips struck dumb,
While we shared all by the rule of thumb--
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

More was seen through the stern light screen-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Chartings no doubt where a woman had been!-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
It was a flimsy shift on a bunker cot,
With a thin dirk slit through the bosom spot
And the lace stiff dry with a purplish blot.
Was she some wench...
Or some shuddering maid...?
That dared the knife-
And took the blade!
By God! she was stuff for a plucky jade-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!

Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest-
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
We wrapped 'em all in a mains'l tight
With twice ten turns of the hawser's bight
And we heaved 'em over and out of sight-
With a Yo-Heave-Ho!
And a fare-you-well!
And a sudden plunge
In a sullen swell,
Ten fathoms deep on the road to hell!
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!