Early Works of Karl Marx: Book of Verse

The Song of a Sailor at Sea

You may frolic and beat and roll
Round my boat just as you will,
You must carry me to my goal;
For you are my subjects still.

Blue waves beneath that now,
My little brother's there.
You dragged him down below,
His bones became your fare.

I was a boy, no more;
     Once rashly he cast off,
     He seized hold of the oar,
     Sank by a sandy reef.

I vowed a vow so true
     By the waves of the briny sea,
     I'd be revenged on you,
     Lash you relentlessly.

Soul's oath and word I've kept,
Them I have not betrayed.
I've whipped you and I've whipped,
On land have seldom stayed.

When booms the stormy main,
The bell rocks in the tower,
When blows the hurricane,
When raging winds do roar,

I'm driven from my bed,
    From seat secure and warm,
    From cosy quiet homestead,
    To sail through wind and storm.

With wind and wave I fight,
To the Lord God I pray,
And let the sails fill out;
A true star guides my way.

New strength comes, with the breath
Of joy and ecstasy,
And in the game of death
Song from the breast bursts free.

You may frolic and beat and roll
Round my boat just as you will,
You must carry me to my goal;
For you are my subjects still.