The Horizon

Last night, about 100 kilometers
Off the South African coast
The sailing ship The Horizon
With 60 crewmen on board
Ran into difficulties and eventually sank
So far, only 5 survivors have been rescued
By a passing vessel
And the other crewmen are feared lost
One of the survivors gave this account:
"In the dark
The captain suddenly observed breakers ahead
He managed to shout
That the helm should be turned hard over
But it was already too late
With a great noise, The Horizon struck a reef
The enormous shock caused the main topmast
To topple over
The rudder slipped out of it's braces
And the tiller broke off
From one moment to the next
The ship was making a lot of water
The Horizon stayed afloat
But with water still pouring in
For the bow of the ship
Was completely split open"
Prayers and mourning, in shades of blue
All were drowning, an awful view
So deceived by a sea of doom
To hear them crying, here in the gloom

(Haul on the main sheet
Leave the coast behind
Bound to round the horn
On favourite winds, they sailed along)
"At the stern
A boat was lowered quite carelessly
It was seriously damaged
The captain had the injured brought on board
And ordered some members of the crew
To take positions in the other lifeboats
At half past twelve at night
The stricken ship capsized
Some of the crewmen who jumped overboard
Managed to reach one of the boats
An attempt to pick up more
Was of no avail in the darkness
This morning, neither the ship
Nor the remaining crew could be seen"

Prayers and mourning, in shades of blue
All were drowning, an awful view
So deceived by a sea of doom
To hear them crying, here in the gloom
Prayers and mourning, in shades of blue
All were drowning, an awful view
So deceived by a sea of doom
To hear them crying, here in the gloom