Plague of the Sea

Set out from Lisbon in calm perfect seas
Off to Brazil for a couple of weeks
Of white sandy beaches and restful respite
To steady my nerves and restore my frail sight

Five days from port a bad omen appeared
An albatross followed our course at the rear
To me it meant nothing but all of the crew
Began crossing themselves on their knees, praying too

The captain turned red out of rage then ordered the men back to place
“There will be no curse on my ship or superstition on this trip”

After this happened a dark storm arrived
And the climate once friendly turned ugly and vile
Our sails were torn and the merciless wind
Which became a typhoon and battered the men

The engines were damaged beyond our repair
And the rudder had broken – we carried no spare
We wired an SOS unceasingly
but drifted unguided for what seemed a week

Our lookout saw nothing at port to starboard no help or escort
The ocean a mirror of blue did fade out our hopes of rescue

Provisions were shrinking a desperate state
Unless we found help soon it would be too late
Then off the port bow and out of the fog
A 3 masted sailing ship stood like a God

We peopled the lifeboats and started to row
With the joy of a rescue from desperate woe
As we approached her no crew could be seen
But the shanty we heard was a terrible thing

Adrift in the Devil's Triangle
Spirits dancing in the sky
Compass spin madly
Ghost of the Cyclops drifting by

I am fate worse than death
From flesh and blood to bone and teeth
Now you’ll sail Armageddon's way
Harbingers of doom, plague of the sea

Search for souls to take our places
The laughing moon became our faces
Would you die for our embraces?

North of Atlantic November
Empty decks and cargo hold
Crew of 10 - nowhere found
The Marie Celeste, she sails alone

Around the good Cape
Gale force winds shut the sight from our eyes
Tear your sail, snap your mast
Flying Dutchman is home at last

Search for souls to take our places
The laughing moon became our faces
Would you die for our embraces?

It was now clear the danger we were in
Was much worse than death or original sin
The Phantom ship that we had found and her crew
Had wanted our bodies and souls through and through

Faced with two choices and forced to choose
We turned from the ghost ship and its damned muse
Rowing back sadly our damaged boat meant
Starvation and slow death our future was set

But given the choice between specter or corpse
We all chose a natural end to our course
With heavy hearts rowing was a joyless task
On reaching our boat we climbed up and made fast

So weaker and weaker we grew by the day
As the Phantom ship mocked us and offered a way
To rescue ourselves from this lingering fate
By joining her crew before it was too late

Beyond ‘morrow at first light the Phantom had vanished from sight
Weakened by fear and in pain we cried for her help but in vain