Song for the Bowdoin
Well, you sailed the cold waters
Of the great northern bays
Ice thick on your rigging, Lee rail under the waves, And the snow on your canvas
Like a winter gull's wing
Oh, all the times you've been through

And now you've got hard times
And now you lie still
And you're fast to the anchor and chain
Broken and tired, summer winds pass you by
But you're bound to go sailing again

Well, you cleared out of Boothbay
On a gentle south swell;
With the breeze on your quarter
How that bow rose and fell. There are those who remember so much more than they'll tell;
Oh, all the times you've been through

Greenland and Baffin
And the white Labrador
In the winds and the terrible snow
When they carried their icepicks
Just to bring you about
In the light from the lanterns below

And now you've got hard times
And now you lie still
And you're fast to the anchor and chain
Broken and tired, summer winds pass you by
But you're bound to go sailing again

So rest, lady, rest
From the fog and the gales
Let the harbor protect you
Let the sun dry your sai ls
Let a hundred old sailors
Tell their saltiest tales
Of the hardest of times you've been through
And we'll see your masts mingle
With the spruces and pines
And we'll bow as we all pass you by
For a boat is more patient
Than a sailor can be
When the sun and the wind fill his eyes


And now you've got hard times
And now you lie still
And you're fast to the anchor and chain
Broken and tired, summer winds pass you by
But you're bound to go sailing again