ivory rings singing peacocks and things from the east there s a beast on a chain made of gold all her cargoes change with the changing seas and the name of the clipper is the charity and her sails are fading in the sky as she bids the land breeze goodbye in the teeth of the sea wind she flies a million years on a sea of tears charity nightward she sails and the fiery trails of her wake drown the sky i am breaking she cries and her figurehead is a barbary queen with a breast as cold as the sea is green and she reaches out her arms to the storm her long hair windwhipped and torn she begs for a harbor that s warm a million years on a sea of tears charity she cries my name it is the charity beware your luck if you d sail with me beware come says the tall ship sailing on the east wind run say the white sails filling with the west wind now say the grey gulls riding on the south wind fly say the green waves breaking in the north wind