A Song in Storm

Be well assured that on our side
    Our challenged oceans fight,
Though headlong wind and leaping tide
    Make us their sport to-night
Through force of weather, not of war,
    In jeopardy we steer.
Then welcome Fate's discourtesy
    Whereby it shall appear
        How in all time of our distress
        As in our triumph too,
        The game is more than the player of the game,
        And the ship is more than the crew!

Be well assured, though wave and wind
    Have mightier blows in store,
That we who keep the watch assigned
    Must stand to it the more;
And as our streaming bows dismiss
    Each billow's baulked career,
Sing welcome Fate's discourtesy
    Whereby it is made clear
        How in all time of our distress
        As in our triumph too,
        The game is more than the player of the game,
        And the ship is more than the crew!

Be well assured that on our side
    Our challenged oceans fight,
Though headlong wind and leaping tide
    Make us their sport to-night
Through force of weather, not of war,
    In jeopardy we steer.
Then welcome Fate's discourtesy
    Whereby it shall appear
        How in all time of our distress
        As in our triumph too,
        The game is more than the player of the game,
        And the ship is more than the crew !

by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) , "A Song in Storm", from Sea Warfare, in The Fringes of the Fleet, published 1915

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) , "Fate's discourtesy", 1917, published 1917 [four baritone voices and orchestra], from The Fringes of the Fleet, no. 2.
by Edward German (1862-1936) , "Be well assured", published 1916. [voice and piano]

Date added to the website: 2009-02-05.

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