Page:Departmental Ditties and Ballads and Barrack-Room Ballads, Kipling, 1899.djvu/399

Rh Oh, the mutter overside, when the port-fog holds us tied,

And the syrens hoot their dread!

When foot by foot we creep o'er the hueless viewless deep

To the sob of the questing lead!

It's down by the Lower Hope, dear lass,

With the Gunfleet Sands in view,

Till the Mouse swings green on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,

And the Gull Light lifts on the Long Trail—the trail that is always new.

Oh, the blazing tropic night, when the wake's a welt of light

That holds the hot sky tame,

And the steady fore-foot snores through the planet-powdered floors

Where the scared whale flukes in flame!

Her plates are scarred by the sun, dear lass,

Her ropes are taunt with the dew,

For we're booming down on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,

We're sagging south on the Long Trail—the trail that is always new.