Lyrics:

Well, the whalefish struck
And the line run out
But the whale made a flourish with her tail

Then the boat capsized
Ten men were drowned
No more, no more Greenland for you, brave boys
No more, no more Greenland for you

'Twas in eighteen hundred and sixty-three
On June the thirteenth day
When our gallant ship her anchor weighed
And for Greenland sailed away, brave boys
And for Greenland sailed away

The lookout in the crosstrees stood
A spyglass in his hand
'It's a whale! It's a whale!
It's a whalefish!' he cried
'And she blows from every span, brave boys
She blows from every span!'

We struck that whale but the line ran out
And the whale made a flourish with her tail
When the boat capsized ten men were drowned
And we never caught that whale, brave boys
We never caught that whale

'Well, to lose that whale,'
My captain said
'Leaves my heart all sore
But to lose the lives of those ten bonny men
Grieves me ten times more, brave boys
It grieves me ten times more.'

Now Greenland is a barren land
A land that's never green
Where there's ice and snow, and the whalefishes blow
And daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
And daylight's seldom seen