THE SONG OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY
Channel: Raúl Alva
Date: 2017-03-13

THE SONG OF THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY
by James Clerk Maxwell, c. 1857

Under the sea, Under the sea
Mark how the telegraph motions to me,
Under the sea, Under the sea
Signals are coming along,
With a wag, wag, wag;
The telegraph needle is vibrating free,
And every vibration is telling to me
How they drag, drag, drag,
The telegraph cable along,

Under the sea, Under the sea
No little signals are coming to me
Under the sea, Under the sea
Something has surely gone wrong,
And it’s broke, broke, broke;
What is the cause of it does not transpire,
But something has broken the telegraph wire
With a stroke, stroke, stroke,
Or else they’ve been pulling too strong.

Under the sea, Under the sea
Fishes are whispering. What can it be,
Under the sea, Under the sea
So many hundred miles long?
For it’s strange, strange, strange,
How they could spin out such durable stuff,
Lying all wiry, elastic, and tough,
Without change, change, change,
In the salt water so strong.

Under the sea, Under the sea
There let us leave it for fishes to see;
Under the sea, Under the sea
They’ll see lots of cables ere long,
For we’ll twine, twine, twine,
And spin a new cable, and try it again,
And settle our bargains of cotton and grain,
With a line, line, line,—
A line that will never go wrong.
Copyright Disclaimer Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.