Sailor's Song.

The sea goes up; the sky comes down.     Oh, can you spy the ancient town, -     The granite hills so hard and gray,     That rib the land behind the bay?         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     Three years? Is it so long that we     Have lived upon the lonely sea?     Oh, often I thought we'd see the town,     When the sea went up, and the sky came down.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     Even the winter winds would rouse     A memory of my father's house;     For round his windows and his door     They made the same deep, mouthless roar.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     And when the summer's breezes beat,     Methought I saw the sunny street     Where stood my Kate. Beneath her hand     She gazed far out, far out from land.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     Farthest away, I oftenest dreamed     That I was with her. Then, it seemed     A single stride the ocean wide     Had bridged, and brought me to her side.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home.         O ye ho!     But though so near we're drawing, now,     'T is farther off -    - I know not how.     We sail and sail: we see no home.     Would we into the port were come!         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     At night, the same stars o'er the mast:     The mast sways round - however fast     We fly - still sways and swings around     One scanty circle's starry bound.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     Ah, many a month those stars have shone,     And many a golden morn has flown,     Since that so solemn, happy morn,     When, I away, my babe was born.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     And, though so near we're drawing, now,     'T is farther off - I know not how -     I would not aught amiss had come     To babe or mother there, at home!         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     'T is but a seeming: swiftly rush     The seas, beneath. I hear the crush     Of foamy ridges 'gainst the prow.     Longing outspeeds the breeze, I know.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!     Patience, my mates! Though not this eve     We cast our anchor, yet believe,     If but the wind holds, short the run:     We 'll sail in with to-morrow's sun.         O ye ho, boys! Spread her wings!         Fair winds, boys: send her home!         O ye ho!