Poems (Linn)/My Sailor Boy
MY SAILOR BOY.
"TELL me sailor, sailing northward To the land of ice and snow,Where the mighty iceberg towers And the midnight suns crouch low;Tell me did you meet a ship Decked with flags and banners gay,While upon the prow there stood Singing, as he sailed away,Songs of gladness and of joy,My bright, happy sailor boy?"
And the sailor, dim of eye, Weak with famine and with pain,Answered: '"Yes, in northern seas Met we such a ship; in vainWere our signals. On the prow Dashed the ocean's icy spray.Little cared the sailor boy, Singing, as he sailed away,Songs of gladness and of joy,Merry, buoyant, sailor boy!"
Tell me sailor, sailing southward, Where the palm and date-trees grow, And the air is sweet with flowers And gay birds fly to and fro;Tell me did you meet a ship Decked with streamers bright and gay,While upon the prow there stood, Singing, as he sailed away,Songs of gladness and of joy,My bright, happy, sailor boy?
And the sailor, bronzed and burnt By the southern sun and breeze,Answered: "Yes, when we were calmed In the burning southern seas,Sails full set and flags unfurled, Steering northward, such a barkPassed us, and upon its prow, Singing gaily as a larkSongs of happiness and joy,The bright, jocund, sailor boy."
Of the sailors sailing eastward, Of the sailors sailing west,Still I ask the self-same question; Comes the answer to my quest:"Yes, we saw the ship so fair, With its flags and streamers gay,And upon the wave-washed prow, Singing, as he sailed away, Songs of gladness and of joy,The bright, happy, sailor boy."
Just when I begin to know Fears and sorrow and despairSome stanch sailor of the seas Tells me of my vessel fair;Then I hope and watch again, O'er the blue foam-feathered bay,For my ship that long ago Sailed into the far away,And my merry sailor boySinging reckless songs of joy.
What the song my sailor sings? You who know how hopes depart,You who know how strives the soul, Know how weary grows the heart,Know how saddened grows the eye; You who hear the echoed strainOf a far-off, purer life, Borne above earth's wail of pain—You have met my sailor boySinging songs of deathless joy.