A REFUGE FOR POETS WHO WRITE IN THE LYRIC TRADITION,
WITH RHYME AND METER, WITH OR WITHOUT MUSIC
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THE COASTS OF HIGH BARBARY
Look ahead, look astern,
Look the weather and the lee.
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
I see a wreck to windward,
And a lofty ship to lee,
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
O are you a pirate
Or a man-o’-war, cried we?
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
O no! I’m not a pirate
But a man-o’-war, cried he,
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
Then back up your topsails,
And heave your vessel to,
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
For we have got some letters
To be carried home by you.
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
We’ll back up our topsails
And heave our vessel to;
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
But only in some harbour
And along the side of you.
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
‘Twas broadside to broadside,
We fought all on the main;
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
Until at last our frigate
Shot the pirate’s mast away.
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
For quarters! For quarters!
The salt-sea pirate cried.
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
The quarters that we showed them
Was to sink them in the tide.
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
With cutlass and gun
We fought for hours three;
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
Their ship it was their coffin,
And their grave it was the sea.
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
But O it was a cruel sight
And grieved us all full sore,
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we.
To see them all a-drowning
As they tried to swim to shore.
A-sailing down along the coasts of High Barbary.
Traditional English
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