The skipper of the Mary Ann, a jolly chap is he; With jaunty jest and merriment he gayly sails the sea. He knows no navigation and he missed his course a mile, But said, "It doesn't matter, so long as I can smile." He ran against an island, and he almost sank the ship -- "Well, never mind!" he brightly said, "we'll have a cheerful trip." He did not see the gathering storm, but roared a sprightly song, "O sailors, keep a-singing, and the way will not be long!" The tempest blew him eastward and the tempest blew him west; Whatever way he travelled, he liked that way the best. He lost his course entirely, but he never lost his grin; Said he, "The bark of laughter is the ship to travel in!" And somewhere on the ocean, from the tropics to the pole, The storms are still a-buffeting that optimistic soul. He knows no navigation, but "What's the odds?" asks he, "So long as I am sailing on the top side of the sea?" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TIRED by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 32 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING I DID THIS FOR THEE! WHAT HAST THOU DONE FOR ME? by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL THE TUFT OF KELP by HERMAN MELVILLE THE BELLE OF THE BALL by WINTHROP MACKWORTH PRAED THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT by JONATHAN SWIFT TIPPERARY: 3. AS THE INTERLINEARS MIGHT TAKE IT FROM XENOPHON by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS |