Tom Bowline
Traditional:
courtesy of www.SailorSongs.com
Here a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowline,
The darling of our crew
No more he'll hear the tempest howling,
For death has broached him too.
His form was of the manliest beauty,
His heart was kind and soft
Faithful below, he did his duty
And now he's gone aloft.
Tom never from his word departed
His virtues were so rare
His friends were many, and true hearted
His poll was kind and fair
And then he'd sing so blithe and jolly
Ah! Many's the time and oft
But mirth is turned to melancholy
For Tom is gone aloft
Yet shall poor Tom find pleasant weather
When He who all commands
Shall give to call life's crew together
The word to pipe all hands
Thus death who kings and tars dispatches
In vain Tom's life has doff'd
For, though his body under hatches,
His soul has gone aloft
The author of this website has put a lot of time and effort into gathering the greatest collection of sea shanties for the world to enjoy - There are songs that have been to sung to a job of work at sea for many, many years and collecting them has been a great endeavour. - Roger Chartier has made the effort out of his own interest and the requests that he has gotten to do this work from fellow musicians who wanted a good source of sea shanties to draw on and learn from. He has been told that for this effort he is a remarkable man.
