Pick an eight-knot tramp of the N.R.F.

Carrying coal on the Channel Run.

“The job is a stranger to honors,

It’s also a stranger to shame.

There’s naught to win and your life to lose

’Midst its dirt, its dangers, its damns;

But once you have laughed its laughter,

And the cynic has captured your soul,

You can smile at the rest as you do your best

To approach an illusive goal.