As to Billy's adieu to the ship Rights -
- of - Man , which the boarding
lieutenant had indeed reported to him
the Captain , but , in a deferential way more as a good story
than aught else, Captain Vere he , tho mistakenly understanding it as a satiric sally, had but thought
so much the better of the impressed man Billy for it;
as a military sailor'ssailor'sHS sailor , admiring the
spirit that could take an ab arbitrary
enlistment so merryly merrily wittilywittilyHS and sensibly.
As to Billy's adieu to the ship Rights -
- of - Man , which the boarding
lieutenant had indeed reported to him
the Captain , but , in a deferential way more as a good story
than aught else, Captain Vere he , tho mistakenly understanding it as a satiric sally, had but thought
so much the better of the impressed man Billy for it;
as a military sailor'ssailor'sHS sailor , admiring the
spirit that could take an ab arbitrary
enlistment so merryly merrily wittilywittilyHS and sensibly.
Transcribed by: John Bryant