Give Me Freshening Breeze, My Boys

By Louisa May Alcott

'Give me freshening breeze, my boys,

        A white and swelling sail,

        A ship that cuts the dashing waves,

        And weathers every gale.

        What life is like a sailor's life,

        So free, so bold, so brave?

        His home the ocean's wide expanse,

        A coral bed his grave.'