Page:The songs that Quinte sang.djvu/25

Rh And I watched them as they sailed afar Till I saw the top of each slender spar Fade beyond the horizon’s bar,
 * But my heart was light and gay.

For why should I feel a throb of fear When the wind blew fair and the sky was clear So my heart was light with hope and cheer
 * As I watched them sail away.

But often my heart grew sick with fear For my ships were gone for many a year And O, but the nights were long and drear
 * And the days dragged wearily,

And often when others were fast asleep And the angry storm king rode the deep, The whole night long I would watch and weep
 * For my bonnie ships at sea.

But they bring me glad, good news to-day, “Oh! Your ships are coming in,” they say, “You can see them gliding up the bay
 * In the glow of the morning sun.”

Oh! My ships are in with their cargoes rare And their colors streaming in the air My bonnie ships, so brave and fair,
 * They are all in—save one.

The Golden Hope with topmasts tall Hides like a queen among them all, But a fairy shallop, frail and small,
 * The dearest of all to me,

One night when the winds and waves were high Went down to her doom ’neath a pitiless sky, And never a thought for the rest have I
 * Since Love went down at sea.