Page:Rudyard Kipling's verse - Inclusive Edition 1885-1918.djvu/165

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INCLUSIVE EDITION, 1885-1918
147
I didn't want to do it, for I knew what I should get,An' I wanted to preach Religion, handsome an' out of the wet,But the Word of the Lord were laid on me, an' I done what I was set.
I have been smit an' bruiséd, as warned would be the case,An' turned my cheek to the smiter exactly as Scripture says;But following that, I knocked him down an' led him up to Grace.
An' we have preaching on Sundays whenever the sea is calm,An' I use no knife or pistol an' I never take no harm,For the Lord abideth back of me to guide my fighting arm.
An' I sign for four-pound-ten a month and save the money clear,An' I am in charge of the lower deck, an' I never lose a steer;An' I believe in Almighty God an' preach His Gospel here.
The skippers say I'm crazy, but I can prove 'em wrong,For I am in charge of the lower deck with all that doth belong—Which they would not give to a lunatic, and the competition so strong!


THE "MARY GLOSTER"

1894

I've paid for your sickest fancies; I've humoured your crackedest whim—Dick, it's your daddy, dying; you've got to listen to him!Good for a fortnight, am I? The doctor told you? He lied.I shall go under by morning, and— Put that nurse outside.
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