O ship, that sailest slowly, slowly on,
Make haste before a wasting life is gone!
Make haste that I may catch a fleeting breath!
And true in life, be true e'en unto death.

O ship, sail on! and bear me o'er the tide
To her for whom my woman's heart once died.
Sail, sail, O ship! for she hath need of me,
And I would know what her last wish may be!
I have been true, so true, through all the past,
Sail, sail, O ship! I would not fail at last.