Ballad of Andureth

This is a ballad that I wrote a few years ago to include in a story. I have brushed it up a bit and added a few more verses. The beginning, especially, could use more work to make it flow better.

Once there was a mariner,

Andureth Bold by name.

His hair as shining silver was,

His eyes were like a flame.

His sword with flashing jewels set,

His cloak a seafoam grey,

His standard bore a gallant ship,

In colors bright and gay.

Andureth sailed the boundless seas,
He did not know of fear,
And many songs and tales he told
Of lands both far and near.
Gossip ran among the towns...
The people called him master
Of every sea, and said his ship
Could never know disaster.

One day he set sail on the sea,

The sky was fair and bright.

The winds were sweet, the waves were calm,

And stars came out that night.

But next day a great gale blew in,

Fierce from the north-east,

The rain a lash, the waves all wild,

The wind a screaming beast.

Three days they ran before the storm,

Tossed helpless on the sea.

Andureth, standing at the helm,

Searched vainly for a lee.
The ship was cloaked in endless night,
The crew became afraid.
"The master's luck has turned at last!"
Some wept, while others prayed.

Vibrating through the ship, a crash,

They pounded on a reef.

With cold death waiting down below,

The seas gave no relief.

Ragged sails flapped at the mast,

Cold waves engulfed the deck,

The gallant ship, once high and proud,

Was soon a hapless wreck.

Andureth, standing at the helm,

Raised sword blade to the sky,

And from his salt-encrusted lips

There came a chanting cry.

The wind shrieked out its angry song,

The cold waves gnashed and roared,

But elven song above them rose

And on the tempest soared.

Lower, lower sank the ship,

Down to her briny doom.

Andureth, tall and unafraid,

Went singing to his tomb.

The cold sea claimed a bonny ship,

And all her gallant crew,

She claimed the Mariner himself…

The sea must have her due.