| |
| THOU that hast a daughter | |
| For one to woo and wed, | |
| Give her to a husband | |
| With snow upon his head; | |
| Oh, give her to an old man, | 5 |
| Though little joy it be, | |
| Before the best young sailor | |
| That sails upon the sea! | |
| |
| How luckless is the sailor | |
| When sick and like to die; | 10 |
| He sees no tender mother, | |
| No sweetheart standing by. | |
| Only the captain speaks to him,— | |
| Stand up, stand up, young man, | |
| And steer the ship to haven, | 15 |
| As none beside thee can. | |
| |
| Thou say’st to me, “Stand up, stand up;” | |
| I say to thee, take hold, | |
| Lift me a little from the deck, | |
| My hands and feet are cold. | 20 |
| And let my head, I pray thee, | |
| With handkerchiefs be bound; | |
| There, take my love’s gold handkerchief, | |
| And tie it tightly round. | |
| |
| Now bring the chart, the doleful chart; | 25 |
| See, where these mountains meet— | |
| The clouds are thick around their head, | |
| The mists around their feet; | |
| Cast anchor here; ’t is deep and safe | |
| Within the rocky cleft; | 30 |
| The little anchor on the right, | |
| The great one on the left. | |
| |
| And now to thee, O captain, | |
| Most earnestly I pray, | |
| That they may never bury me | 35 |
| In church or cloister gray; | |
| But on the windy sea-beach, | |
| At the ending of the land, | |
| All on the surfy sea-beach, | |
| Deep down into the sand. | 40 |
| |
| For there will come the sailors, | |
| Their voices I shall hear, | |
| And at casting of the anchor | |
| The yo-ho loud and clear; | |
| And at hauling of the anchor | 45 |
| The yo-ho and the cheer,— | |
| Farewell, my love, for to thy bay | |
| I nevermore may steer! | |
| |
