It is dedicated to "Jack Chase, Englishman, Wherever that great heart may now be /
It is dedicated to "Jack Chase, Englishman, Wherever that great heart may now be / Here on Earth or harbored in Paradise." The narrator sets the tone by describing the suppression of a recent mutiny at the Nore, and tells how the title character is impressed away from the Rights-of-Man. The title character, described as "welkin-eyed" and as the perfect exemplar of the "Handsome Sailor," nevertheless manages to fall afoul of the master-at-arms of the H.M.S. Bellipotent. For ten points, the title character kills Claggart and is sentenced to hanging by Captain Vere in this Melville short novel.
It is dedicated to "Jack Chase, Englishman, Wherever that great heart may now be /
{Billy Budd}, Foretopman (or {Billy Budd}, Sailor)