Tom Bowling

Charles Dibdin (1745–1814)

HERE, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling,

The darling of our crew;

No more he ’ll hear the tempest howling,

For death has broached him to.

His form was of the manliest beauty,

His heart was kind and soft;

Faithful, below, he did his duty;

But 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 despatches,

In vain Tom’s life has doffed;

For though his body ’s under hatches,

His soul has gone aloft.