The oldest copy of the poem I can find with Google Books is in New Zealand Verse edited by W. F. Alexander & A. E. Currie (London: Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., 1906), page 89. I haven't done a word-for-word comparison, but it looks like it matches the lyrics posted above.

However, what Gordon Bok actually sings is slightly different:


HOMEWARD BOUND
As sung by Gordon Bok on the Gordon Bok/Cindy Kallet album "Neighbors" (1996)

They will take us from the moorings, they will tow us down the bay,
They will pluck us up to wind'ard when we sail.
We will hear the keen wind whistle, we will feel the sting of spray
When we've seen the deep sea pilot o'er the rail.
Then it's "Johnny, heave and start 'er!" and it's "Johnny, roll and go!"
When the mates have picked the watches there is little rest for Jack.
And we'll sing the good old chorus that the homeward bounders know,
For the girls have got the tow rope and they're hauling in the slack.

Through the dusty streets and dismal, through the noises of the town
We can hear the west wind humming through the shrouds.
And we'll see the lightning leaping as the tropic suns go down,
And the dapple of the shadows of the clouds.
And the salt blood dances in us to the tune of Homeward Bound,
To the call to weary watches, to the sheet and to the tack.
When they bid us man the capstan all hands will walk her 'round
For the girls have got the tow rope and they're hauling in the slack.

Through the sunshine of the tropics, 'round the bleak and dreary Horn
Half across this windy planet lies our way.
And we'll leave the land behind us like a welcome long outworn
When we see the reeling mastheads swing and sway.
Through the weather fair and stormy, through the calm and in the gale,
We will heave and haul to help her, we will keep her on her track.
And we'll sing the good old chantey as all hands are making sail,
For the girls have got the tow rope and they're hauling in the slack.