Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/210

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Her plates are flaked by the sun, dear lass,

And her ropes are taut 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. Then home, get her home, where the drunken rollers comb,

And the shouting seas drive by,

And the engines stamp and ring, and the wet bows reel and swing,

And the Southern Cross rides high!

Yes, the old lost stars wheel back, dear lass,

That blaze in the velvet blue.

They're all old friends on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,

They're God's own guide on the Long Trail—the trail that is always new. Fly forward, O my heart, from the Foreland to the Start—

We're steaming all too slow,

And it's twenty thousand mile to our little lazy isle

Where the trumpet-orchids blow!

You have heard the call of the off-shore wind

And the voice of the deep-sea rain;

You have heard the song. How long—how long?

Pull out on the trail again! The Lord knows what we may find, dear lass,

And The Deuce knows what we may do—

But we're back once more on the old trail, our own trail, the out trail,

We're down, hull-down, on the Long Trail—the trail that is always new!