And I saw them from their feeble hold
Washed over one by one.

And 'mid the creaking timber's din,
And the roaring of the sea,
I heard the dismal, drowning cries
Of their last agony.

There was a curse in the wind that blew,
A curse in the boiling wave;
And the captain knew that vengeance came
From the old man's ocean grave.

And I heard him say, as he sate apart,
In a hollow voice and low,
'Tis a cry of blood doth follow us,
And still doth plague us so!'

And then those heavy iron chests
With desperate strength took he,
And ten of the strongest mariners
Did cast them into the sea.

And out, from the bottom of the sea,
There came a hollow groan;--
The captain by the gunwale stood,
And he looked like icy stone--
And he drew in his breath with a gasping sob,
And a spasm of death came on.