The Bellman

[Dramatis Personae
C ... The Chorus
Y ... The Young
B ... The Bellman]

[The Chorus:]
Curse the hand of the man
With the bell he doth ring
One did tell me

[The Young:]
Old man with traveler's hands
Scarred by age and salt of the sea
Tell me, warn thee your tales
Of cried from the ocean's abide

[The Bellman:]
You fallow lads with smoother hands
Beware the beyond sea
The sun does not quite follow
The skies of the water you seek

C
Sunsets sadden
Mornings terrify!

B
On and on from the shores they do go
With their hearts and minds one way do they know
My bell will ring
And they will sing
A song I did too once sing

Y
Mercator's Poles and Meridian Lines
The stars will guide, the sun will time
The winds of trade will guide the way
To the unknown and then
Home

B
Hold my hand and stay
With me listen to what I warn you
For so long am I imprisoned
To these streets of ports call
Still they sail, hence I raise
My bell and strike its chime of fate!

Y
On and on from the shores we do go
With our hearts and minds one way do we know
Our bell will ring, And we will sing
The song we always dreamed to sing
Mercator's Poles and Meridian Lines
The stars will guide, the sun will time
The winds of trade will guide the way
To the unknown and then

[Solo]

C
Unseen or heard is the ghost
Of the Bellman we know

B
Unless you're the fool who
Is doomed from the moment you sail

C
Once was he the arrogant Bellman ago

B
Cursed to live on to call
The cry of the fell

C
Cursed be the hand of the man
With the bell he doth ring

B
Death to you all whose
Warnings you never did heed

C
Beware of the shivering bell
When you set forth to sea

B
For it rings the chime of fate!