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I saw a ship a-sailing, a-sailing, a-sailing,
With emeralds and rubies and sapphires in her hold;
And a bosun in a blue coat bawling at the railing,
Piping through a silver call that had a chain of gold;
The summer wind was failing and the tall ship rolled.
I saw a ship a-steering, a-steering, a-steering,
With roses in red thread worked up in her sails;
With sacks of purple amethysts, the spoils of buccaneering,
Skins and musky yellow, wine, and silks in bales,
Her merry men were cheering, hauling on the brails.
—John Masefield.
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