There has been many a grander deed since man had life to give,
And thousands have gone to certain death, eyes open, that men might live;
And many have gone for their country-s sake, when their numbers were all too few,
And bravely died that their mates may die-to show what a man can do.

Now this is the song of La Bella wreck at the harbour of Warnambool,
And this is the song of a brave, brave man of the grand old simple school:
We all know the forces of circumstance, and we blame not the lifeboat crew-
But this is the song of a fisherman who showed what a man can do.

With a single scull in his strong young hands, and his brave young eyes aglow,
He shot his skill o-er the raging hell, where the lifeboat dared not go!
It was twice and thrice that he went again, and the lives they were only two-
But this is the song of The Man Who Knows, and can show what a man can do.

And we need such deeds in this world of ours, lest the hearts of men might fail-
Oh we need such deeds in this world of ours, and a man to tell the tale!
When the eloquent gestures come from the wreck, and never a word comes through-
Oh, we need such deeds in our land to-day to show what a man can do!

And this is the moral of all that is,
And it-s only known to two
Put out in your dinghy with confidence,
To show what a man can do.