I am a sailor, both stout and strong  To a goodly vessel I do belong  Well guard and anchored and well equipped  Sir William Gower and a very fine ship  Our captain in his cabin lay  When a dreadful voice to him did say  "This night with me in the deep you'll be  So prepare yourself and your company"  The sky grew dark and the sea grew still  Though the men were fearful and the air was chill  Sir William rose to meet his men  Saying "Hear me now for I'll not speak again"  "I loved my mother when she was alive  And to my sister I gave babies five  I killed my wife and her children three  So I now must face what has come for me"  "You'll lash a timber close to my side  And throw me out on the water wide  And if I swim then let me be  But if I sink them pray for me"  So we tied his head and we tied his feet  And around his middle a winding sheet  At every knot the sea did stir  Grew ready for the murderer  And then we saw his open grave  The likeness of a single wave  That swept our ship from her stern to her bow  And bore away Sir William Gower