09. The Scar and the Ivory | Moby-Dick Act II: The Captain’s Purpose

[Verse 1]
Long have I kept below, apart from day,
While every timber bore me on my way.
At last I stand where wind and salt conspire,
And feel beneath my silence buried fire.

[Verse 2]
The scar remains though years have crossed the sea,
Where flesh was lost, the ivory carries me.
Each measured step repeats the blow I knew,
And wakes the white shape in my mind anew.

[Chorus]
The scar remains, the ivory bears my weight,
Each step repeats the hour that shaped my fate.
Though oceans spread their distances from me,
One white shape waits beyond each changing sea.

[Verse 3]
Men call it past because the wound has closed,
They cannot know what memory has imposed.
To them one whale is swallowed by the sea,
To me that single shape is all I see.

[Verse 4]
They see the coat, the captain and command,
They hear my orders travel hand to hand.
But underneath the discipline I show,
There moves one purpose only I can know.

[Chorus]
The scar remains, the ivory bears my weight,
Each step repeats the hour that shaped my fate.
Though oceans spread their distances from me,
One white shape waits beyond each changing sea.

[Verse 5]
I read each horizon by that distant day,
And every current draws my thought one way.
However far the Pequod's courses run,
My mind returns to what cannot be undone.

[Verse 6]
The ocean may be measureless and wide,
Yet one remembered shape commands the tide.
I carry what was taken as I roam,
And make this boundless water one man's home.

[Chorus]
The scar remains, the ivory bears my weight,
Each step repeats the hour that shaped my fate.
Though oceans spread their distances from me,
One white shape waits beyond each changing sea.

[Outro]
So let the deck receive my measured stride,
I bear the wound and purpose locked inside.
The ivory strikes its answer through the frame,
And every step returns me to one name.

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[The Scene] The Pequod is now well beyond the harbour, and the hopeful departure of Act I has settled into the routine of life at sea. Captain Ahab finally comes into view upon the deck, his scarred body and ivory leg immediately setting him apart from the men under his command. Alone with the memory of the white whale that maimed him, he reveals how completely that encounter still governs his thoughts. What the crew has joined as a whaling voyage already carries another purpose within its captain, though he has not yet declared that purpose openly to them. [Verse 1] Long have I kept below, apart from day, While every timber bore me on my way. At last I stand where wind and salt conspire, And feel beneath my silence buried fire. [Verse 2] The scar remains though years have crossed the sea, Where flesh was lost, the ivory carries me. Each measured step repeats the blow I knew, And wakes the white shape in my mind anew. [Chorus] The scar remains, the ivory bears my weight, Each step repeats the hour that shaped my fate. Though oceans spread their distances from me, One white shape waits beyond each changing sea. [Verse 3] Men call it past because the wound has closed, They cannot know what memory has imposed. To them one whale is swallowed by the sea, To me that single shape is all I see. [Verse 4] They see the coat, the captain and command, They hear my orders travel hand to hand. But underneath the discipline I show, There moves one purpose only I can know. [Chorus] The scar remains, the ivory bears my weight, Each step repeats the hour that shaped my fate. Though oceans spread their distances from me, One white shape waits beyond each changing sea. [Verse 5] I read each horizon by that distant day, And every current draws my thought one way. However far the Pequod's courses run, My mind returns to what cannot be undone. [Verse 6] The ocean may be measureless and wide, Yet one remembered shape commands the tide. I carry what was taken as I roam, And make this boundless water one man's home. [Chorus] The scar remains, the ivory bears my weight, Each step repeats the hour that shaped my fate. Though oceans spread their distances from me, One white shape waits beyond each changing sea. [Outro] So let the deck receive my measured stride, I bear the wound and purpose locked inside. The ivory strikes its answer through the frame, And every step returns me to one name.

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