Without sails or lights there flees 

A ship round the world without rest. 
The moon shines down on the seas, 

And weathered stands the mast. 

A sinister Helmsman steers, 

No blood flows in his veins, 
No light shines from his eyes, 

No thought stirs in his brain. 

The waves beat, wild and savage; 
She strikes a cliff, to founder, 
But rides aloft, undamaged, 
As swift as she went under. 

Till raging sea-flood swells 
In blood-bath weltering. 
Troubled, the Helmsman quails; 
This proves an evil thing. 

The Spirits scream vengeful doom 
Below and up on high. 

The Helmsman’s plunged in gloom, 
The ship goes shooting by. 

To far-off lands she fares, 

Where coasts and bays she sees, 
Then flashes in mirror-fire, 

Till kissed down by the seas.