Since the fifer is ill,
  Come on, heave, sailors,
  As I recount a ballad
  As old as the waves;
  Rig the messenger
To weigh the anchor of the Tristan;
                — Ah !
  — Come on, sailors, heave, heave,
  Sailors, heave at the capstan!

  From the black reefs of the coast,
  At night, you could often see
  Rising up the tall masts
  Of a vessel running silently;
  On it sailed, braving the wrath 
Of the pitiless south wind...
                — Ah !
  — Come on, sailors, heave, heave,
  Sailors, heave at the capstan!

  Cloaked like a white phantom,
  A fantastical sailor
  Standing in the wind of the boom
  Held the helm in his hand;
  You could see his great eyes shining 
Like those of the Leviathan...
                — Ah !
  — Come on, sailors, heave, heave,
  Sailors, heave at the capstan!

  This strange Palinurus,
  When the sky was on fire,
  Had the sails double-reefed 
  And seemed to defy God;
  His raucous bursts of laughter 
Drowned out the voice of the storm...
                — Ah !
  — Come on, sailors, heave, heave,
  Sailors, heave at the capstan!

  Having read his name on the stern,
  They say that there was once 
  An old longboat's coxswain
  Who lost his eyes and his voice;
  That never could he speak 
The name of the pirate of the night...
                — Ah !
  — Come on, sailors, heave, heave,
  Sailors, heave at the capstan!

  That vessel sent forth flames
  From its wide hawseholes;
  In its masts ran the souls
  Who served as its maintopmen;
  Sometimes you could see it trace 
A circle of fire on the ocean...
                — Ah !
  — Come on, sailors, heave, heave,
  Sailors, heave at the capstan!

  That pirate still exists;
  But nevertheless know well 
  That it sinks or fades away
  At the least sign of a cross. 
  That mysterious ship
Has as its captain, Satan!
                — Ah !
  — Come on, sailors, heave, heave,
  Sailors, heave at the capstan!