I
Grey riverbanks in the dusk
Melting away into mist
A hard breeze sharp off the sea
The ship's screws lunge and throb
And the voices of sailors singing.
O I have come wandering
Out of the dust of many lands
Ears by all tongues jangled
Feet worn by all arduous ways--
O the voices of sailors singing.
What nostalgia of sea
And free new-scented spaces
dreams of towns vermillion-gated
Must be in their blood as in mine
That the sailors long so in singing.
Churned water marbled astern
Grey riverbanks in the dusk
Melting away into mist
And a shrill wind hard off the sea.
O the voices of sailors singing.