Sea Songs :: :: University of Virginia Library

Sea Songs

By W. C. Bennett

Bennett, W. C. (1820-1895)

[epigraph]

[dedication]

[section]

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FROM THE SOUTH SEAS.

Your eyes are bright, my lasses,
My home-birds fond and fair,
But eyes I've seen down South, girls,
And bright as yours were there;
And I'm looking down, down South now,
To the gleaming tropic calms,
And eyes I see
Beam bright on me
Beneath far-distant palms;
Oh! the girls of Nukuheva,
Though fair and fond you be,
The girls of Nukuheva,
They'll still be dreams to me.

Oh, sweeping in from whaling
Through many a weary day,
How sweet it was to hug the land
In Nukuheva Bay;
How sweet to crunch the coral strand
Beneath deck-weary feet,
And eyes to see
Gleam bright on me,
Young eyes so wild and sweet;
Oh! the girls of Nukuheva,
Though fond and dear you be,
The girls of Nukuheva,
They'll still be dreams to me.

The breeze off land is blowing;
Farewell brown maids ashore;
Our ship is homeward going;
The South I'll see no more;
Yet, in thought, I'm looking South still
To the shining tropic calms,
And gleaming eyes
Give soft replies
Beneath those far-off palms.
Oh! the girls of Nukuheva,
So fair and fond and free,
I shall see their girlish glances
Till I no more can see.