by John Masefield (1878 - 1967)
When the last sea is sailed and the last...
Language: English
When the last sea is sailed and the last shallow charted, When the last field is reaped and the last harvest stored, When the last fire is out and the last guest departed, Grant the last prayer that I shall pray, Be good to me, O Lord! And let me pass in a night at sea, a night of storm and thunder, In the loud crying of the wind through sail and rope and spar; Send me a ninth great peaceful wave to drown and roll me under To the cold tunny-fishes' home where the drowned galleons are. And in the dim green quiet place far out of sight and hearing, Grant I may hear at whiles the wash and thresh of the sea-foam About the fine keen bows of the stately clippers steering Towards the lone northern star and the fair ports of home.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Salt-Water Ballads by John Masefield, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1915, pages 77-78, titled "D'Avalos's Prayer". First published as "A Last Prayer" in Broad Sheet, October 1902
Text Authorship:
- by John Masefield (1878 - 1967), title 1: "A Last Prayer", title 2: "D'Avalos' Prayer", appears in Salt Water Ballads, first published 1902 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Cecil Forsyth (1870 - 1941), "When the last sea is sailed", published <<1940 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Geoffrey David Gibbs (b. 1940), "Be good to me, o Lord" [ SATB chorus and organ or piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "A sailor's prayer" [ voice and piano ], from Four Salt-Water Ballads, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "D'Avalos Prayer", op. 9 (1943) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-12-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 145