The Sailor Boy

[Laura Coughlin]

The cold, dark waves splash hard

On the rock teeth of the shore.

The cold, harsh tide rolls in

And the wind blows cold like before.

Over the graves of sailors, the

Harsh ocean's mouth's white foam

Reaches with cold, foamy fingers

Reaching towards harbor-town homes.

The song of the sea sings sweetly

Below- luring the young lads so brave

Out to the cruel wide ocean-

Out onto the hungry, cold waves.

Away from the home of his father

Away from his mother's warm arms

Away from the home he grew up in

To a strange world of danger and harm.

The boy now dreams often of England and home

And of his pretty young lass

But the sky grows dark and the wind picks up

And he hopes that the storm will soon pass.

For the sun rose crimson that morning

And the sea glowed a blood red.

But they sail steadily on towards the New World

Just as the captain had said.

The wind mounts, the waves they reach up -

Pulling the ship's bow down.

Next morning a fishing boat out on the sea

Finds the bodies of many who drowned.

And a letter - half written- to a young English lass

From her sailor lad out on the sea.

"Darling, I'm coming home to you-

Darling, please wait for me."

"For the sea no longer calls me-

My search for adventure is o'er.

I want to come home and to love you-

To return to England's fair shore."

The fisherman reads teh letter

A tear forms in his grey eye

For the couple by death separated

And for the others who died.

Somewhere at home a dear mother

And father wait for their son.

He said he was coming home shortly,

His sailing adventuring done.

Somewhere in England a maiden

Weeps silently all alone

For the sailor she loved so dearly-

The sailor who never came home.

He promised to love and to hold her

In many short letters she read-

He promised her happiness plenty-

The two were soon to be wed.

The sea now sings softly to the maiden at night

Calling her to come down below-

Telling her tales of a brave young man -

A sailor they both used to know.

[Jas. Hook]

Laura -

Very good!

Jas. Hook