1. |
The First Lowering
01:33
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Chapter 48: The First Lowering
The more the merrier!
Came out of the heat, and they're pulling beside.
There's noting scarier
Than losing a whale while you pray to the sky.
Those devils are good fellows, too!
You see them row, and the rowing's proof!
Break your back on it!
An angry dog with a knife his teeth,
But don't belabor it --
You're nodding off, like a day at the beach.
Now, hail ye, Starbuck, pull aside,
Have you seen such sights in the whole world wide?
Oh, the whales abound and the action's nigh!
With duty, our profits will rise and rise!
Look thee out at the deep, dark blue --
The ocean's looking at each of you!
And now, prepare you
To chase your death to the heart of a storm.
With hearts of caribou
We tarry on, and we're never undone!
Now whale and squall and harpoon are one,
With hope aloft in the setting sun.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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2. |
The Battering-Ram
02:32
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Chapter 76: The Battering Ram
May Truth reveal itself
In moth-fed predilections,
Furnished by the wealth
Experience conditions,
So we do it!
I can't conceive your eyes,
But I don't care.
Maybe another day.
In all, precedes a form --
A wall of indivision,
A cold protecting warm
In palpable commission,
And so we charge ahead.
Behind it all, amassed,
Tremendous life,
Or so I see in you.
But take, take, take, take, take, take, take it easy!
Now believe each fateful sight!
A wonder in every fold,
A truth waiting to be told!
A youth who steals the path
From timely revelation,
When sorrow takes it back,
Dies in observation
Of the only Truth.
I can't conceive your eyes,
But I don't care.
Maybe another day.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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3. |
Hark!
01:54
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Chapter 43: Hark!
"Hey now, comrade, something is coming our way!"
"Keep your mind on the task at hand, or be gone!"
In labor we were silenced all along.
"The captain sleeps below us, so be what you be."
In deference, we change the truth that we see.
The ocean's rolling!
Shake it, shake it, shake into the shadows beneath!
The shuttered silence awoken, we are free!
Shake it, shake it, now,
Shake the stern to the bow!
In labor we were silenced all along.
In deference, we change the truth that we see.
The ocean's rolling!
Shake it, shake it, shake into the shadows beneath!
The shuttered silence awoken, we are free!
Shake it, shake it, now,
Shake the stern to the bow!
Shake it, shake it, now!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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4. |
The Decanter
02:17
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Chapter 101: The Decanter
Oh, everybody knows you're an Englishman,
Leaning with a beer on the still capstan.
A party in the bow, with beef to pass around --
Oh, you're out of sight!
Extend your generous hospitality --
We're worked to the bone.
Whether it bull-beef or dromedary,
It's more than I've known.
And so we sing it!:
Make me an Englishman,
His life is for me!
Never to lift a hand,
Without some relief!
That's how we sing it!
Oh, everybody knows you're an Englishman,
Dizzy in the head when you're harpoonin' --
You throw it in the dark, but always hit your mark.
Oh, you're out of sight!
And so we sing it!:
Make me an Englishman,
His life is for me!
Never to lift a hand,
Without some relief!
That's how we sing it!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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5. |
Ahab's Leg
01:32
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Chapter 106: Ahab's Leg
Joy from joy,
And misery from misery!
Sadness suckles at your breast again.
The weight of depth,
Enough to crack your deadened half,
Could never leaven with felicity.
And on through the endless history of the seeds of pleasure,
Belayed to the promissory of despair, oh!
So we're caught,
Contemplative, but for our lot --
Each ambition with decent of pain.
Brace us now,
And live we for the where and how!
With practicality I stand, estranged.
And on through the endless history of the seeds of pleasure,
Belayed to the promissory of despair, oh!
Credit given in forbearance's name;
Nothing given to enjoy the same.
And on through the endless history of the seeds of pleasure,
Belayed to the promissory of despair, oh!
Joy from joy,
And misery from misery!
Snakes and songbirds do beget the same.
Brace us now,
And live we for the where and how!
With practicality I stand.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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6. |
The Sermon
02:23
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Chapter 9: The Sermon
Purge your pride, in the belly of
Desire, in the valley of
Required opportunity --
Delight in obedience.
The flame burns true as a compass, there's
No skew on perspectives you
Want to simply justify --
And so do you slumber.
But, oh!
The hand of God is up above!
And, oh!
You cannot run from boundless love!
Carried down with a tempest of
Renown, to the stillness of
Each round individual sphere --
Peace now is a punishment.
So beg your Lord for the trying reward
Bestowed for the congress of man,
Each lost in his wickedness --
And so, with your pilot!
And, oh!
The hand of God is up above!
And, oh!
You cannot run from boundless love!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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7. |
The Mast-Head
02:43
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Chapter 35: The Mast-Head
Saint Stylites on a pillar in the desert,
What is he looking for?
Like a priest in the tower of Babel --
What is he looking for?
Stand we now, fast to the columns of grandeur,
As a colossus, yeah!
Up in the trees, with the world overflowing --
What more to conquer, hey?
Here do we sway; destitute,
Languorous days; amplitude
Of the humble-most waves
Move us far and wide.
See Captain Sleet, high and mighty in the crow's nest --
A token advantage, oh!
Power reduced to convenience, common pleasures
Painted a noble hue.
And we, not bemused
For exposed through and through!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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8. |
Stubb's Supper
01:34
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Chapter 64: Stubb's Supper
When I die, I'll go to heaven,
When I die upon the sea.
When I die, I'll go to heaven --
The blessed angels will deliver me!
Stiff of leg, with nature's reason,
So the minstrel shows betray,
But I'll preach another season
To the sharks who wouldn't listen to be saved!
Oh, they feed upon the river,
And they feed upon the sea,
And they feed until they wither
With the burden that they gathered in their greed.
Sharks own the river,
Sharks own the sea,
Sharks don't deliver,
But the blessed angles will deliver me!
When I die, I'll go to heaven,
When I die upon the sea.
When I die, I'll go to heaven --
The blessed angels will deliver me!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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9. |
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Chapter 122: Midnight Aloft -- Thunder and Lightning
Um, um, um.
Um, um, um.
Every snowflake in the winter,
Every lightning bolt in spring,
Every gift the Earth is given,
Is given unto me. (Given unto me!)
Um, um, um.
Um, um, um.
At the bottom of the order,
Every dangerous task in need
Is given unto me. (Given unto me!)
The sky, undone,
Overthrown,
Daggers flashing off and on.
And I sway,
Dearly clung
To the lightning rod.
Um, um, um.
Um, um, um.
When the white man touched the metal,
That would bring the lightning nigh,
Well, you thought the man defiant
And crazy, by and by. (Crazy, by and by!)
But you sent me to the rigging,
Climbing to the sky! (Climbing to the sky!)
Um, um, um.
Um, um, um.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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10. |
The Musket
01:43
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Chapter 123: The Musket
Spinning in the storm,
An angel adored me,
Tempted my escape from every claimant,
And we'd take the open sea,
And turn it around.
A token of the war
In every arrangement
Made between a man and that which taints him --
It's a life to overthrow,
May heaven allow.
Tell me, could it be the loss,
The stinging loss
I feel in every dream? In every
Meaning lost to waves in rugged sea?
Here I stand alone,
At opposite corners
From my only duty as I claim it --
Can I take the open sea,
And turn it around?
Tell me, could it be the loss,
The stinging loss
I feel in every dream? In every
Meaning lost to waves in rugged sea?
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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11. |
The Jeroboam's Story
02:24
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Chapter 71: The Jeroboam's Story
All heaven would delight,
Heaven would delight,
If the sing-song charlatan a-blowing his horn had never been torn
From permanent night.
Cry "hell!" until you're right,
You'll always be right
If you hem and haw wide as Arkansas, you'll probably draw
Inside of a straight.
Oh, but you're wrong,
You'll always be wrong,
You offer damnation,
You offer mistakes.
Give me the law,
Let me be strong,
Give me salvation.
No angel would affright,
The way you affright.
You feed their fear so that you can steer them far and away
From nature's rights.
Oh, but you're wrong,
You'll always be wrong,
You offer damnation,
You offer mistakes.
Give me the law,
Let me be strong,
Give me salvation.
All heaven would delight,
Heaven would delight,
If the sing-song charlatan a-blowing his horn had never been born.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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12. |
The Pacific
02:21
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Chapter 111: The Pacific
A dream rolling over me,
Rolling on, the sea
Rolling over me.
A dream rolling on,
The sea touching all --
Receive of the harmony.
Out over the ocean,
I feel every notion
Of peace, and of suffering.
In every great undulation,
Every soul, every patient
Belief, every broken sleep.
A dream rolling over me,
Rolling on, the sea
Rolling over me.
A dream rolling on,
The sea touching all --
Receive of the harmony.
Just as the sea touches rivers
In the valleys, as they quiver
From hearts to humanity,
Each of us touched and delivered
By the shadows and glimmers
Of all time, of all human beings.
A dream rolling over me,
Rolling on, the sea
Rolling over me.
A dream rolling on,
The sea touching all --
Receive of the harmony.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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13. |
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Chapter 55: Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales
Science could never relate
(With a partial view of the animal state)
A true description of whales,
That would speak itself to our animal states,
Neither the stories of old,
Predetermined by man,
Prior to Noah, alone,
Floating over the sand.
Show me Platonian form,
And I'll show you one who has yet to have sworn
Blessings for each of the crew
In the eye of fear, in the mouth of the storm.
Give out an animal wail
In its terrible face;
And draw it, as bravery pales
To indifference.
Give out an animal wail!
Give out an animal wail!
Give out an animal wail!
Fault can only be laid
When a man assumes all experience stale,
Lifeless, and easy to rate,
'Til the distance makes his illusion the same.
Lay out the soul of your soul,
A majestic array,
Tuned to the palpable, flawed
Imbrication of days!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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14. |
The Chase -- First Day
01:46
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Chapter 133: The Chase -- First Day
(There she blows!) In every noble heart, an island,
(There she blows!) Dense with every woe a lesser man could feel,
And his island has breeched in the heart of the sea
With the heavens above and a mystery beneath --
Birds aloft in joyous contemplation.
(There she blows!) A gentle Jupiter, admired,
(There she blows!) A pinion of serenity
Set to work on the heart of a merciless hand
That is raised, nonetheless, in the folly of man,
Peace becomes a just and natural torrent.
And he raised our boat in rows of ivory teeth,
Then he made a safe retreat.
(There she blows!) If gods would speak, it won't be omen
(There she blows!) That they choose, in all omnipotence, to bear
Any deafening will that a god could command
From the power of all to the weakness of man --
Sails aloft, I speak but from an island;
Sails aloft, I speak but from the sea.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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15. |
The Cabin
01:35
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Chapter 129: The Cabin
Ahab:
Turn your trembling eyes,
Oh!, sacred tiller, wise
With empty paradise!
Let me force the way.
My illness will suffice,
Torn from the echoes,
To guide this grand device.
Pip:
Fully centered, so here I stay,
The coronation of king-for-a-day,
As I make believe a history to abnegate.
Ahab:
The hour is coming nigh --
Spun off the axis.
Oh, empty paradise!
Let me force the way.
No caprice or guile
Brought yet to sully
A dutiful demise.
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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16. |
Postscript
01:55
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Chapter 25: Postscript
Did you know
It's a key regal dignity, oh for sure,
To taste good?
He's a well-seasoned leader, a salty germ!
And all told,
At the grand coronation he's crimped and curled
With some oil,
While a holy significance gives the foil.
Take one, take two, take three,
Take all of it.
We view the rule of kings
As sodomy!
We know what kind of men are you,
Given fully to pompous fools.
So often,
A contemptible signifier for men,
Like or not,
Is the well-oiled nature of every lock.
Safe to say
That a king wouldn't use the same oil as they.
Fancy pants
Needs the oil from the free men who bear the lance.
Take one, take two, take three,
Take all of it.
We view the rule of kings
As sodomy!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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17. |
Ambergris
01:56
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Chapter 92: Ambergris
Three cheers for the atmosphere,
To good health in the coming years,
To all smells foul, and to the sweet aroma
Born from the wretched, blossomed in the corner.
Hey, hey, we're only what we own.
Hey, hey, we're gonna own the form!
St. Paul dancing at the ball --
From dishonor to the glory tall.
Wake, baby, wake -- it's only in the water!
Change what you take, and change the holy order!
Hey, hey, we're only what we own.
Hey, hey, we're gonna own the form!
Wake, baby, wake -- it's only in the water!
Change what you take, and change the holy order!
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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18. |
The Chase -- Third Day
01:50
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Chapter 135: The Chase -- Third Day
You'll always be the suffering,
Come as a revival of our pride;
Chimneys, volcanic, break our lives
Back to the building blocks, inspired
By the mechanics of each grief.
You'll always be the suffering,
Come think of the beauty in her eyes;
Think on reflections in your child.
Make for the evening, come what may! --
We're better in bitter struggling.
You'll always be the suffering,
(c) and (p) 2009 Patrick Shea
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Patrick Shea Brooklyn, New York
Patrick is a nerd, a book lover, a math afficianado, an Ishmael, and an Ahab. He lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters. He grew up in Portland, OR; and has also lived in Grinnell, IA (for college); and Austin, TX.
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