This setting of Bliss Carman's poem, "The Ships of Yule," is lively and rhythmic and contains elements of a traditional sea chantey. The music is tonal with lots of harmonic color and forays into related keys. The poem refers to Yule, and so the piece is appropriate for Christmas or winter celebrations. It is voiced in six versions: SAB, SATB, SSA, TTBB, two-part men's voices, and two-part treble voices with piano accompaniment. The elapsed time is approximately 2:41 at the marked tempo.