this very ship.
RALPH. Well said—I had forgotten that. Messmates—what do you
say? Do
you approve my determination?
ALL. We do.
DICK. I don t.
BOAT. What is to be done with this here hopeless chap? Let us
sing him
the song that Sir Joseph has kindly composed for us. Perhaps it
will
bring this here miserable creetur to a proper state of mind.
GLEE!—RALPH, BOATSWAIN, BOATSWAIN'S MATE, and CHORUS
A British tar is a soaring soul,
As free as a mountain bird,
His energetic fist should be ready to resist
A dictatorial word.
His nose should pant and his lip should curl,
His cheeks should flame and his brow should furl,
His bosom should heave and his heart should glow,
And his fist be ever ready for a knock-down blow.
CHORUS.—His nose should pant, etc.
His eyes should flash with an inborn fire,
His brow with scorn be wrung;
He never should bow down to a domineering frown,
Or the tang of a tyrant tongue.
His foot should stamp and his throat should growl,
His hair should twirl and his face should scowl;
His eyes should flash and his breast protrude,
And this should be his customary attitude—(pose).
CHORUS.—His foot should stamp, etc.
[All dance off excepting RALPH, who remains, leaning pensively
against
bulwark.
Enter JOSEPHINE from cabin
JOS. It is useless—Sir Joseph's attentions nauseate me. I know
that he
is a truly great and good man, for he told me so himself, but to
me he
seems tedious, fretful, and dictatorial. Yet his must be a mind
of no
common order, or he would not dare to teach my dear father to
dance a
hornpipe on the cabin table. (Sees RALPH.) Ralph Rackstraw!
(Overcome by
emotion.)
RALPH. Aye, lady—no other than poor Ralph Rackstraw!
JOS. (aside). How my heart beats! (Aloud) And why poor, Ralph?
RALPH. I am poor in the essence of happiness, lady—rich only
in never-
ending unrest. In me there meet a combination of antithetical
elements
which are at eternal war with one another. Driven hither by
objective
influences—thither by subjective emotions—wafted one moment
into
blazing day, by mocking hope—plunged the next into the Cimmerian
darkness of tangible despair, I am but a living ganglion of
irreconcilable antagonisms. I hope I make myself clear, lady?
JOS. Perfectly. (Aside.) His simple eloquence goes to my heart.
Oh, if
I dared—but no, the thought is madness! (Aloud.) Dismiss these
foolish
fancies, they torture you but needlessly. Come, make one effort.
RALPH (aside). I will—one. (Aloud.) Josephine!
JOS. (Indignantly). Sir!
RALPH. Aye, even though Jove's armoury were launched at the
head of the
audacious mortal whose lips, unhallowed by relationship, dared to
breathe
that precious word, yet would I breathe it once, and then
perchance be
silent evermore. Josephine, in one brief breath I will
concentrate the
hopes, the doubts, the anxious fears of six weary months.
Josephine, I am
a British sailor, and I love you!
JOS. Sir, this audacity! (Aside.) Oh, my heart, my beating
heart!
(Aloud.) This unwarrantable presumption on the part of a common
sailor!
(Aside.) Common! oh, the irony of the word! (Crossing, aloud.)
Oh, sir,
you forget the disparity in our ranks.
RALPH. I forget nothing, haughty lady. I love you desperately,
my life
is in your hand—I lay it at your feet! Give me hope, and what I
lack in
education and polite accomplishments, that I will endeavour to
acquire.
Drive me to despair, and in death alone I shall look for
consolation. I
am proud and cannot stoop to implore. I have spoken and I wait
your word.
JOS. You shall not wait long. Your proffered love I haughtily
reject.
Go, sir, and learn to cast your eyes on some village maiden in
your own
poor rank—they should be lowered before your captain's daughter.
DUET—JOSEPHINE and RALPH
JOS. Refrain, audacious tar,
Your suit from pressing,
Remember what you are,
And whom addressing!
(Aside.) I'd laugh my rank to scorn
In union holy,
Were he more highly born
Or I more lowly!
RALPH. Proud lady, have your way,
Unfeeling beauty!
You speak and I obey,
It is my duty!
I am the lowliest tar
That sails the water,
And you, proud maiden, are
My captain's daughter!
(Aside.) My heart with anguish torn
Bows down before her,
She laughs my love to scorn,
Yet I adore her!
[Repeat refrain, ensemble, then exit JOSEPHINE into cabin.
RALPH. (Recit.) Can I survive this overbearing
Or live a life of mad despairing,
My proffered love despised, rejected?
No, no, it's not to be expected!
(Calling off.)
Messmates, ahoy!
Come here! Come here!