THE SONG OF THE SEA

Oh, the song of the Sea —

The wonderful song of the Sea!

Like the far-off hum of a throbbing drum

It steals through the night to me:

And my fancy wanders free

To a little seaport town,

And a spot I knew, where the roses grew

By a cottage small and brown;

And a child strayed up and down

O'er hillock and beach and lea,

And crept at dark to his bed, to hark

To the wonderful song of the Sea.

Oh, the song of the Sea —

The mystical song of the Sea!

What strains of joy to a dreaming boy

That music was wont to be!

And the night-wind through the tree

Was a perfumed breath that told

Of the spicy gales that filled the sails

Where the tropic billows rolled

And the rovers hid their gold

By the lone palm on the key,—

But the whispering wave their secret gave

In the mystical song of the Sea.

Oh, the song of the Sea —

The beautiful song of the Sea!

The mighty note from the ocean's throat,

The laugh of the wind in glee!

And swift as the ripples flee

With the surges down the shore,

It bears me back, o'er life's long track,

To home and its love once more.

I stand at the open door,

Dear mother, again with thee,

And hear afar on the booming bar

The beautiful song of the Sea.