[The Scene] With Queequeg recovered and Ahab’s specially forged harpoon completed, the Pequod is overtaken by a violent storm. Fierce winds and towering seas batter the vessel while strange blue electrical fire flickers along the mastheads and rigging, alarming the crew. Ahab stands defiantly upon the deck, his ivory leg braced against the ship’s violent motion, and refuses to turn back or abandon his course towards Moby Dick. Where the sailors see mounting danger, their captain sees another obstacle to overcome through sheer determination. His refusal to yield deepens Starbuck’s fear that Ahab’s obsession is placing the entire ship and everyone aboard in mortal peril. [Verse 1] The storm breaks loose in thunder, wind and rain, The Pequod shudders underneath the strain. I stand where lightning whitens every sail, And hold my ground against the rising gale. [Verse 2] Blue fire is climbing where the mastheads rise, It hangs like frost against the storm-black skies. It flickers on the rigging, cold and bright, A trembling crown against the driven night. [Chorus] Fire upon the mast, a cold and wavering light, I hold our course against the raging night. The timbers groan, the black seas rise and roar, I will not turn the Pequod back to shore. [Verse 3] I hear the warning rising through the squall, Yet still I stand as captain over all. The sailors turn their eyes towards me through the spray, I order them to hold the chosen way. [Verse 4] Beyond the squall the white whale haunts my sight, His memory burns as fiercely as the light. My newly forged harpoon lies waiting still, To serve the single purpose of my will. [Chorus] Fire upon the mast, a cold and wavering light, I hold our course against the raging night. The timbers groan, the black seas rise and roar, I will not turn the Pequod back to shore. [Verse 5] I know the storm can neither hate nor choose, It has no grievance, nothing it can lose. Yet I refuse to yield before its might, And stand against its thunder through the night. [Verse 6] Each wave breaks hard against the forward rail, The rigging groans beneath the pounding gale. I feel the deck plunge down beneath my feet, Yet still my ivory marks its stubborn beat. [Chorus] Fire upon the mast, a cold and wavering light, I hold our course against the raging night. The timbers groan, the black seas rise and roar, I will not turn the Pequod back to shore. [Outro] The mastheads flicker blue against the night, I hold the course beneath their wavering light. Whatever this dark ocean has in store, I will not turn the Pequod towards the shore.
