Page:Poems Linn.djvu/27

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 bark
Passed us, and upon its prow,
 Singing gaily as a lark
Songs 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,