Songs & Shanties, Lyrics from a Magical World

The Dragon's Jig (a shanty)

A young pup out at sea, I was,
A thousand miles from shore.
I sat up in my crow's nest berth
And scanned the waves galore.

And there upon the dark deep blue,
A movement caught my eye.
A burst of spray upon the swells
That shot into the sky.

A head then burst above the waves,
A frightening sight to see.
It swiveled back and forth that day
And settled then on me.

Above the waves, a body rose,
A brilliant shining white.
It was twice the size of our ship
And filled my heart with fright.

I scrambled down upon the deck,
To the captain I did call,
'A monster comes this way for us,
I fear he'll kill us all!'

The captain smiled and took my arm,
Then pointed out to sea,
'A dragon born of ice and snow
Is what that creature be'

'Protector of the seas, my son,
And sailor's friend as well.
No harm will come to us this day.
Now ring the muster bell.'

I did just as the captain said.
I rang the bell quite loud
And soon the deck with lads was filled,
And I among the crowd.

'The captain leaned upon the rail
And motioned toward his crew,
'The dragon comes to read our hearts
And here's what you must do.'

'Come forward to the rail, my boys,
And stand here strong and proud,
Then shout the dragon's name, my boys,
And shout it very loud.'

'By knowing him, he will know you
And let our vessel be.
He'll dance for us upon the waves,
Then head back to the sea.'

'And what, my captain,' I did ask,
is this dragon's name?
What shall we shout? What shall we yell?
That keeps this creature tame.'

'Shout Ymiresh, the dragon-king,
For that is who you see
And if you shout it loud enough,
The king will let us be'

Up to the ship, the dragon swam,
His scales a glistening white.
His eyes, one blue, the other green,
Now had us in their sight.

He loosed a roar that shook our mast,
His mouth was open wide,
When all of us, the whole ship's crew,
Threw back their heads and cried.

'Oh Ymiresh, Oh Dragon-King,
Please let our vessel be
And dance for us upon the waves
And let our ship go free.

He closed his mouth into a smile,
His eyes gleamed blue and green.
Then turned he to his mighty sea
And danced as in a dream.

In circles and in spiral jumps,
He dashed about with glee.
A joyous song of life, he danced
For all the crew to see.

Oh Ymiresh, Oh Dragon-King
You've danced your dance for me.
Now go in peace to your deep home
Within the endless sea.

He circled once, then left our ship
And disappeared once more
And off we sailed for many years,
To many distant shores.

Now many years have passed me by
And I am very old.
I listen to the young pup's tales,
That they have heard and told.

But happiness still fills my soul
With mem'ries fresh and free,
Of all those many years ago,
When Ymiresh danced for me.

Of wind and wave and dragons bold
Upon the stormy sea,
Of long ago and far away,
When Ymiresh danced for me, for me,
When Ymiresh danced for me.