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by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

Fate's discourtesy
 (Sung text for setting by E. Elgar)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
Be well assured that on our side
    Our challenged oceans fight,
Though headlong wind and leaping tide
    Make us their sport to-night
Through force of weather, not of war,
    In jeopardy we steer.
Then welcome Fate's discourtesy
    Whereby it shall appear
        How in all time of our distress
        As in our triumph too,
        The game is more than the player of the game,
        And the ship is more than the crew!

Be well assured, though wave and wind
    Have mightier blows in store,
That we who keep the watch assigned
    Must stand to it the more;
And as our streaming bows dismiss
    Each billow's baulked career,
Sing welcome Fate's discourtesy
    Whereby it is made clear
        How in all time of our distress
        As in our triumph too,
        The game is more than the player of the game,
        And the ship is more than the crew!

Be well assured that on our side
    Our challenged oceans fight,
Though headlong wind and leaping tide
    Make us their sport to-night
Through force of weather, not of war,
    In jeopardy we steer.
Then welcome Fate's discourtesy
    Whereby it shall appear
        How in all time of our distress
        As in our triumph too,
        The game is more than the player of the game,
        And the ship is more than the crew !
First published in Daily Telegraph, November 1915, revised 1919.

Composition:

    Set to music by Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Fate's discourtesy", 1917, published 1917 [ vocal quartet of baritones and orchestra ], from The Fringes of the Fleet, no. 2

Text Authorship:

  • by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), "A Song in Storm", appears in Sea Warfare, in The Fringes of the Fleet, first published 1915

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-05
Line count: 36
Word count: 217

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