 | Poems |  |
A SAILOR'S SONG.
“Would you be a sailor's wife?
“Beware!
“Would you share a sailor's life?
“Take care!
“For, oh! a sailor's life must be
“Spent away on the far, far sea,
“And little of him his wife may see—
“Not she.”
Yet still she cried, “Whate'er betide,
“A sailor's wife I'll be;
“For the winds with health his brown cheeks fill,
“And the sea's fresh life is in him still,
“Not the land's weak heart: say what you will,
“A sailor's wife I'll be.”
“Beware!
“Would you share a sailor's life?
“Take care!
“For, oh! a sailor's life must be
“Spent away on the far, far sea,
“And little of him his wife may see—
“Not she.”
Yet still she cried, “Whate'er betide,
“A sailor's wife I'll be;
“For the winds with health his brown cheeks fill,
“And the sea's fresh life is in him still,
“Not the land's weak heart: say what you will,
“A sailor's wife I'll be.”
206
“Would you be a sailor's wife?
“Beware!
“Would you share a sailor's life?
“Take care!
“To the savage sea he is wedded groom,
“And grief shall your weary life consume,
“And widow'd nights and days your doom
“Must be!”
Yet still she cried, “Whate'er betide,
“A sailor's wife I'll be;
“If weeping partings we must know,
“He'll come again though he must go,
“And, oh! to think he'll come back! oh!
“A sailor's wife I'll be.”
“Beware!
“Would you share a sailor's life?
“Take care!
“To the savage sea he is wedded groom,
“And grief shall your weary life consume,
“And widow'd nights and days your doom
“Must be!”
Yet still she cried, “Whate'er betide,
“A sailor's wife I'll be;
“If weeping partings we must know,
“He'll come again though he must go,
“And, oh! to think he'll come back! oh!
“A sailor's wife I'll be.”
“Would you be a sailor's wife?
“Beware!
“Would you share a sailor's life?
“Take care!
“O worse than absence, there may be
“A grave for him in the far wild sea,
“His young babe's face he may never see,
“Nor thee!”
Yet still she sigh'd, “Whate'er betide,
“A sailor's wife I'll be;
“For whether the land or deck be trod,
“All lie at last beneath wave or sod,
“And all are in the hand of God;
“A sailor's wife I'll be.”
“Beware!
“Would you share a sailor's life?
“Take care!
“O worse than absence, there may be
“A grave for him in the far wild sea,
“His young babe's face he may never see,
“Nor thee!”
Yet still she sigh'd, “Whate'er betide,
“A sailor's wife I'll be;
“For whether the land or deck be trod,
“All lie at last beneath wave or sod,
“And all are in the hand of God;
“A sailor's wife I'll be.”
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