This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE SEA MAN
"Mother, I hear the billows roll,
I hear them hiss and moan!"
"Nay, little son, their fury's done,
'T is but the wind alone."

"Mother, I smell the salt sea wind,
I taste the salt sea spray!"
"Nay, daughter mine, some dream is thine,
I 'll sing thy fear away."

"Mother, we cannot hear thy voice!
The sea rolls loud and high!
It rushes up the minster street
And flings the church door by!"

The waves pour out the windows wide,
They 've washed the altar bare,
They 've torn the flowers from the stranger's tomb,
And heaped wet sea-weed there!

·······

It was the burgher's daughter
That made her prayer in vain,
For all that drowned city
Was never seen again.

[ 10 ]