Shanty for the Arethusa

We set to sail on a packet full of spice, rum and tea-leaves
We’ve emptied out all the bars and the bowery hotels
Tell your daughters do not walk the streets alone tonight
Tell your daughters do not walk the streets alone tonight
To tell the tale of the Jewess and the Mandarin Chinese boy
He led her down from her gilded canopy of cloth
And through her blindfold she could make out the figures there before her
And how the air was thick with incense, cardamom and myrrh
So goodnight, boys, goodnight
Say goodnight, boys, goodnight
We set to sail on a clipper that’s bound for South Australia
The weather’s warm there, the natives are dark and nubile
But if you listen quiet you can hear the footsteps on the cross-trees
The ghosts of sailors past, their spectral bodies clinging to the shrouds
So goodnight, boys, goodnight
Say goodnight, boys, goodnight