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After thus we at sea had miscarried,
Another guess way sat the wind,

For to England I came, and got married
To a lass that was comely and kind.
But whether for joy or vexation,

We know not for what we were born;
Perhaps I may find a kind station,
Perhaps I may touch at Cape Horn.
But sailors, &c.

DIBDIN.

ENGLAND, COMMERCE, AND FREEDOM.

How blest a life a sailor leads,

From clime to clime still ranging;
For as the calm the storm succeeds,
The scene delights by changing!
When tempests howl along the main,
Some object will remind us,

And cheer with hopes to meet again

Those friends we've left behind us. Then under snug sail, we laugh at the gale,

And though landsmen look pale, never heed 'em ;

But toss off a glass to a favourite lass,

To old England, Commerce, and Freedom!

And when arrived in sight of land,

Or safe in port rejoicing,

Our ship we moor, our sails we hand,
Whilst out the boat is hoisting.

With eager haste the shore we reach,
Our friends delighted greet us;

And tripping lightly o'er the beach,
The pretty lasses meet us.

When the full-flowing bowl has enlivened the soul,
To foot it we merrily lead 'em,

And each bonny lass will drink off a glass
To old England, Commerce, and Freedom!

Our cargo sold, we chink the share,
And gladly we receive it ;

And if we meet a brother-tar

Who wants, we freely give it.
No free-born sailor yet had store,
But cheerfully would lend it;

And when 'tis gone, to sea for more-
We earn it but to spend it.

Then drink round my boys! 'tis the first of our joys
To relieve the distressed, clothe and feed 'em ;
'Tis a task which we share with the brave and the fair
In this land of Commerce and Freedom!

Altered from the American.

THE SEA-BIRD'S SONG.

On the deep is the mariner's danger,
On the deep is the mariner's death-
Who, to fear of the tempest a stranger,

Sees the last bubble burst of his breath?

'Tis the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, Lone looker on despair

The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,

The only witness there.

Who watches their course, who so mildly
Careen to the kiss of the breeze!
Who lists to their shrieks, who so wildly
Are clasped in the arms of the seas?
'Tis the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
Lone looker on despair-

The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
The only witness there.

Who hovers on high o'er the lover,

And her who has clung to his neck? Whose wing is the wing that can cover, With its shadow, the foundering wreck? 'Tis the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird, Lone looker on despair

The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
The only witness there.

My eye is the light of the billow,

My wing on the wake of the wave,
I shall take to my breast for a pillow,
The shroud of the fair and the brave.
I'm a sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
Lone looker on despair-
The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
The only witness there.

My foot on the iceberg has lighted,
When hoarse the wild winds veer about;
My eye, when the bark is benighted,
Sees the lamp of the lighthouse go out.
I'm the sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,
Lone looker on despair-

The sea-bird, sea-bird, sea-bird,

The only witness there.

JOHN G. C. BRAINARD.

HOMEWARD BOUND.

HEAD the ship for England!
Shake out every sail!

Blithe leap the billows,

Merry sings the gale.
Captain, work the reckoning;

How many knots a-day?—
Round the world and home again,
That's the sailor's way!

We've traded with the Yankees,

Brazilians, and Chinese;

We've laugh'd with dusky beauties
In shade of tall palm-trees;
Across the Line and Gulf-Stream-

Round by Table Bay-
Everywhere and home again,

That's the sailor's way!

Nightly stands the North Star
Higher on our bow;

Straight we run for England;
Our thoughts are in it now.
Jolly time with friends on shore

When we've drawn our pay;-

All about and home again,
That's the sailor's way!

Tom will to his parents;
Jack will to his dear;
Joe to wife and children;
Bob to pipes and beer;
Dicky to the dancing-room,

To hear the fiddles play;—

Round the world and home again,

That's the sailor's way!

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM.

THE SAILOR.

(A ROMAIC BALLAD.)

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, Though little joy it be, Before the best young sailor That sails upon the sea!

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