A Sailor’s Song
Oh for the breath of the briny deep,And the tug of the bellying sail,With the sea-gull’s cry across the skyAnd a passing boatman’s hail.For, be she fierce or be she gay,The sea is a famous friend alway.
Ho! for the plains where the dolphins play,And the bend of the mast and spars,And a fight at night with the wild sea-spriteWhen the foam has drowned the stars.And, pray, what joy can the landsman feelLike the rise and fall of a sliding keel?
Fair is the mead; the lawn is fairAnd the birds sing sweet on the lea;But the echo soft of a song aloftIs the strain that pleases me;And swish of rope and ring of chainAre music to men who sail the main.
Then, if you love me, let me sailWhile a vessel dares the deep;For the ship ‘s my wife, and the breath of lifeAre the raging gales that sweep;And when I ‘m done with calm and blast,A slide o’er the side, and rest at last.