 | Poems |  |
O BONNY IS MY HUSBAND'S SHIP.
O bonny is my husband's ship, the ship that well I love;
And welcome are its coming sails, all welcome sights above.
There's not a tarry rope, not a spar that there I see,
Not a deck-plank that he treads on, but it's O how dear to me!
And welcome are its coming sails, all welcome sights above.
There's not a tarry rope, not a spar that there I see,
Not a deck-plank that he treads on, but it's O how dear to me!
O bright, bright was the May-time through which he sail'd away,
But to me more wan and dreary than November was the day.
O wintry winds beat keen with sleet—O cold seas rage and foam,
But calm will be, and bright to me, the day that brings him home.
But to me more wan and dreary than November was the day.
O wintry winds beat keen with sleet—O cold seas rage and foam,
But calm will be, and bright to me, the day that brings him home.
O Katie, playing on the floor—O Jock, beside my knee—
When father sits beside the fire, how happy we shall be!
O babe unborn that, when he comes, shall bless my happy breast,
God send my baby safe to me, to kiss him with the rest.
When father sits beside the fire, how happy we shall be!
O babe unborn that, when he comes, shall bless my happy breast,
God send my baby safe to me, to kiss him with the rest.
And many a pretty thing he'll bring for little Kate and Jock,
Carved wooden man, and funny beast, and shell, and sparkling rock,
A monkey, perhaps, so clever, with Jock and Kate to play,
And a rainbow-colour'd parrot, that will chatter all the day.
Carved wooden man, and funny beast, and shell, and sparkling rock,
A monkey, perhaps, so clever, with Jock and Kate to play,
And a rainbow-colour'd parrot, that will chatter all the day.
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O never be a sailor, Jock, to make the angry foam
The terror of a loving wife and babes you've left at home;
And marry not a sailor, Kate, to be his weary wife,
Unless you get one dear as he who's dear to me as life.
The terror of a loving wife and babes you've left at home;
And marry not a sailor, Kate, to be his weary wife,
Unless you get one dear as he who's dear to me as life.
Move swiftly on, you lonesome hours! tick quicker on, O clock!
And bring the hour when, at my breast, my baby I shall rock,
When in my arms my blessed babe shall laugh and leap and crow,
And I shall teach its little eyes its father's face to know.
And bring the hour when, at my breast, my baby I shall rock,
When in my arms my blessed babe shall laugh and leap and crow,
And I shall teach its little eyes its father's face to know.
O Thou who guid'st the stormy winds, O Thou who rul'st the sea,
O God look down in mercy upon my babes and me;
Through storms and perils of the deep, O hold him in Thy hand,
That we may bless Thy blessed name, when safe he treads the strand.
O God look down in mercy upon my babes and me;
Through storms and perils of the deep, O hold him in Thy hand,
That we may bless Thy blessed name, when safe he treads the strand.
You wives so blessed with plenty, how little do you know
The blessings that, on such as I, your riches would bestow!
O John, come back with half enough to keep you safe ashore,
And day and night I'll work that you may go to sea no more.
The blessings that, on such as I, your riches would bestow!
O John, come back with half enough to keep you safe ashore,
And day and night I'll work that you may go to sea no more.
| Poems | |