Harwich Ladies Lyrics
Farewell and adieu to you, Harwich Ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies ashore!
For we've received orders to work to the eastward
Where we hope in a short time to strafe 'em some more.
We'll duck and we'll dive like little tin turtles,
We'll duck and we'll dive underneath the North Seas,
Until we strike something that doesn't expect us.
From here to Cuxhaven it's go as you please!
The first thing we did was to dock in a minefield,
Which isn't a place where repairs should be done;
And there we lay doggo in twelve-fathom water
With tri-nitro-toluol hogging our run.
The next thing we did, we rose under a Zeppelin,
With his shiny big belly half blocking the sky.
But what in the—Heavens can you do with six-pounders?
So we fired what we had and we bade him good-bye.
Farewell and adieu, etc.
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies ashore!
For we've received orders to work to the eastward
Where we hope in a short time to strafe 'em some more.
We'll duck and we'll dive like little tin turtles,
We'll duck and we'll dive underneath the North Seas,
Until we strike something that doesn't expect us.
From here to Cuxhaven it's go as you please!
The first thing we did was to dock in a minefield,
Which isn't a place where repairs should be done;
And there we lay doggo in twelve-fathom water
With tri-nitro-toluol hogging our run.
The next thing we did, we rose under a Zeppelin,
With his shiny big belly half blocking the sky.
But what in the—Heavens can you do with six-pounders?
So we fired what we had and we bade him good-bye.
Farewell and adieu, etc.
About
Genius Annotation
This poem about submariners was originally published in the Daily Telegraph during the First World War, and was published again shortly afterwards in the booklet “The Fringes of the Fleet”.
The form of the verse is that of the old seafarers’ ballad, “Farewell and adieu, to you Spanish ladies”.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 10.The Night Patrol
- 11.Harwich Ladies
- 12.Submarines
- 14.Underwater Works
- 15.Four Nightmares
- 16.“Tin Fish”
- 17.Submarines II
- 20.Expert Opinions
- 21.A Song In Storm
- 22.Patrols
- 23.A Little Theory
- 26.Wasted Material
- 28.Patrols II
- 31.Racial Untruths
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