A SAILOR'S LIFE

Tom Paxton

"Lie down, lie," sailors cry,
When God's on the water.
Pity those in his angry eye;
Little lambs for slaughter.

You'll get by, you'll set sail,
You'll bring wonders to you.
Let no strange scribbler write your tale
Lest he say he knew you.

Rocks and shoals, maelstrom holes
Play with sailor's weary souls
Storm and gale, shredded sail;
Pray the capstan doesn't fail.

"Lie down, lie," sailors cry,
Helpless sailors stranded.
"Lie down, lie," they will surely die
Long before they've landed.

Rocks and shoals, maelstrom holes
Play with sailor's weary souls
Storm and gale, shredded sail;
Pray the capstan doesn't fail.

"Lie down, lie," sailors cry,
When God's on the water.
Pity those in his angry eye;
Little lambs for slaughter.