Wind At My Back Tonight - edit3

[dukealien]

edit1;

We used to laugh at soldiers who could march
in step but barely sail and wouldn’t learn– 
a soldier’s breeze, we called it, they might cope
so long as it was strong and dead astern.

It’s headwinds that I’ve faced my entire life
and tacked a weary course to claw ahead:
nor ever claimed I never steered right close
to doing wrong in port or lady’s bed.

I’ve never been a sneak thief– met a few,
and with my shipmates beat ‘em as their due;
I fought for what we thought was right and fit
but gave ‘em quarter if they asked for it.

So with my voyage done I don’t fear death
this midnight with a raspy final breath:
I’ll set my stuns’ls, white as angel wings
to catch a soldier’s breeze... heading home.

---

Thanks to @Knot for the good suggestions.  Your version has some interesting ideas, too, but in the end I decided to steer close to the original near-meter (aside from that little missed heartbeat at the end).  At least for this edit.

And stuns'ls it is, of course!