Part 14 (1/2)
Three fishers went sailing away to the West, Away to the West as the sun went down; Each thought on the woman who loved him the best, And the children stood watching them out of the town; For men must work, and women must weep, And there 's little to earn, and many to keep, Though the harbor bar be moaning.
Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower, And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down; They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower, And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown.
But men must work, and women must weep, Though storms be sudden, and waters deep, And the harbor bar be moaning.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Full-page Plate]
Three corpses lay out on the s.h.i.+ning sands In the morning gleam as the tide went down, And the women are weeping and wringing their hands For those who will never come home to the town; For men must work, and women must weep, And the sooner it 's over, the sooner to sleep; And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.
[Decoration]
_A FAREWELL._
To C. E. G.--1856.
My fairest child, I have no song to give you; No lark could pipe in skies so dull and gray; Yet, if you will, one quiet hint I 'll leave you, For every day.
I 'll tell you how to sing a clearer carol Than lark who hails the dawn of breezy down; To earn yourself a purer poet's laurel Than Shakespeare's crown.
Be good, sweet maid, and let who can be clever; Do lovely things, not dream them, all day long; And so make Life, and Death, and that For Ever, One grand sweet song.
[Decoration]
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR.
1775-1864.
_ROSE AYLMER._
Ah, what avails the sceptered race!
Ah, what the form divine!
What every virtue, every grace!
Rose Aylmer, all were thine.
Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes May weep, but never see, A night of memories and of sighs I consecrate to thee.
_RUBIES._
Often I have heard it said That her lips are ruby-red.
Little heed I what they say, I have seen as red as they.
Ere she smiled on other men, Real rubies were they then.
When she kissed me once in play, Rubies were less bright than they, And less bright were those which shone In the palace of the Sun.
Will they be as bright again?