Come all you wild young men
And a warning take by me
Never to lead your single life astray
And into no bad company

As I myself have a-done
It being in the merry month of May
When I was pressed by a sea-captain
On board a man-o-war I was sent

Now we sailed on the ocean so wide
And our bonny, bonny flag we let fly
Let every man stand true to his guns
For the Lord knows who must die

And our captain was wounded full sore
And so were the rest of his men
Our main mast rigging was scattered on the deck
So that we were obliged to give in

And the decks were all spattered with blood
And so loudly the cannons did roar;
And thousands of times have I wished myself at home
And all along with my Polly on the shore

She's a tall and a slender girl
She's a dark and a-roving eye
But here am I lie a-bleeding on the deck
And for her sweet sake I shall die

So farewell to me parents and me friends
Farethewell, my dear Polly too
I never should have crossed this salt sea so wide
If I had have been ruled by her
I never should have crossed this salt sea so wide
If I had have been ruled by her