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by John Masefield (1878 - 1967)

I saw a ship a‑sailing, a‑sailing,...
Language: English 
I saw a ship a-sailing, a-sailing, a-sailing,
With emeralds and rubies and sapphires in her hold;
And a bosun in a blue coat bawling at the railing,
Piping a silver call that had a chain of gold;
The summer wind was failing and the tall ship rolled.

I saw a ship a-steering, a-steering, a-steering,
With roses in red thread worked upon her sails;
With sacks of purple amethysts, the spoils of buccaneering,
Skins of musky yellow wine, and silks in bales,
Her merry men were cheering, hauling on the brails.

I saw a ship a-sinking, a-sinking, a-sinking,
With glittering sea-water splashing on her decks,
With seamen in her spirit-room singing songs and drinking,
Pulling claret bottles down, and knocking off the necks,
The broken glass was chinking as she sank among the wrecks.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by John Masefield (1878 - 1967), "An old song re-sung", appears in Ballads and Poems, first published 1910 [author's text not yet checked 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 Tom Dobson (1890 - 1918), "An old song re-sung", published 1916 [voice and piano], from Three Songs [
     text not verified 
    ]
  • by Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877 - 1950), "An old song re-sung", published 1920. [satb chorus a cappella] [
     text not verified 
    ]
  • by Ralph Greaves (1889 - 1966), "Yellow wine", c1926 [voice and piano], note: may be wrong text [
     text not verified 
    ]
  • by Charles Tomlinson Griffes (1884 - 1920), "An old song re-sung", A. 56 (1918), published 1920 [voice and piano], from Two Poems by John Masefield, no. 1. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by Frederick John Easthope Martin (1882 - 1925), "An old song re-sung", published 1919 [medium voice and piano], from Five Poems by John Masefield [
     text not verified 
    ]
  • by Ramsay Pennicuick (? - 1968), "I saw a ship a-sailing", published 1921. [voice and piano] [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 133

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