THE SEA SERPENT CHANTEY

I There’s a snake on the western wave And his crest is red. He is long as a city street, And he eats the dead. There’s a hole in the bottom of the sea Where the snake goes down. And he waits in the bottom of the sea For the men that drown. Let the audience join in the chorus. Chorus:— This is the voice of the sand (The sailors understand) “There is far more sea than sand, There is far more sea than land. Yo ... ho, yo ... ho.” II He waits by the door of his cave While the ages moan. He cracks the ribs of the ships With his teeth of stone. In his gizzard deep and long Much treasure lies. Oh, the pearls and the Spanish gold.... And the idols’ eyes.... Oh, the totem poles ... the skulls ... The altars cold ... The wedding rings, the dice ... The buoy bells old. Chorus:—This is the voice, etc. III Dive, mermaids, with sharp swords And cut him through, And bring us the idols’ eyes And the red gold too. Lower the grappling hooks Good pirate men And drag him up by the tongue From his deep wet den. We will sail to the end of the world, We will nail his hide To the main mast of the moon In the evening tide. Chorus:—This is the voice, etc. IV Or will you let him live, The deep-sea thing, With the wrecks of all the world In a black wide ring By the hole in the bottom of the sea Where the snake goes down, Where he waits in the bottom of the sea For the men that drown? Chorus:—This is the voice, etc.