The quote etched on the Whaleman Statue in New Bedford is from Chapter 36 of Herman Melville's Moby Dick and refers to a sea shanty (
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"What do ye do when ye see a whale, men?"
"Sing out for him!" was the impulsive rejoinder from a score of clubbed voices.
"Good!" cried Ahab, with a wild approval in his tones; observing the hearty animation into which his unexpected question had so magnetically thrown them.
"And what do ye next, men?"
"Lower away, and after him!"
"And what tune is it ye pull to, men?"
"A dead whale or a stove boat!"
More and more strangely and fiercely glad and approving, grew the countenance of the old man at every shout; while the mariners began to gaze curiously at each other, as if marvelling how it was that they themselves became so excited at such seemingly purposeless questions."
This sculpture is located in front of the Public Library at 613 Pleasant St in New Bedford MA
The Smithsoinian Inventory (
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"Artist:
Pratt, Bela Lyon, 1867-1917, sculptor.
Smith, Nat C., architect.
Gorham Manufacturing Company, founder.
Title:
The Whaleman Statue, (sculpture).
Other Titles:
New Bedford Whaleman, (sculpture).
Dates:
Commissioned 1912. Cast 1913. Dedicated June 20, 1913.
Medium:
Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.
Dimensions:
Sculpture: approx. 10 ft. x 5 ft. 8 in. x 8 in.; Base: approx. 11 ft. x 7 ft. 10 in. x 7 ft. 6 in.
Inscription:
The Gorham Co. Founder, Providence, RI. (On front proper right corner of boat:) B.L. Pratt 1912 (On front of stone background, lower right corner:) 'A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat' (On back of stone base:) IN HONOR OF THE WHALEMEN WHOSE/SKILL HARDIHOOD AND DARING BROUGHT/FAME AND FORTUNE TO NEW BEDFORD/AND MADE ITS NAME KNOWN IN EVERY/SEAPORT THE GLOBE/GIFT OF W.W. CRAPO/1913 (On round commemorative plaque on back, below inscription:) New Bedford Port/LUCEM DIFFUNDO signed Founder's mark appears.
Description:
Emerging from the base of a tall granite wall is a bronze sculpture of a muscular whaleman in a boat that cuts through ocean waves. The whaleman stands in the middle of the boat hoisting a harpoon over his proper right shoulder and aiming it down over the bow of the boat. A rope attached to the harpoon is tied around the bow of the boat. The sculpture rests on a square granite base at the foot of the granite wall. The wall is incised with imaged of seagulls and a line of text, "A dead whale or a stove boat," from Herman Melville's "Moby Dick."'