'Farewell and adieu' was the burden prevailing
Long since in the chant of a home-faring crew;
And the heart in us echoes, with laughing or wailing,
Farewell and adieu.
Each year that we live shall we sing it anew,
With a water untravelled before us for sailing
And a water behind us that wrecks may bestrew.
The stars of the past and the beacons are paling,
The heavens and the waters are hoarier of hue:
But the heart in us chants not an all unavailing
Farewell and adieu.
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As Swinburne says in his opening lines sailors on the tall ships, preparing to leave a foreign port for the voyage home, would often sing farewell shanties. But though the words may seem sad "farewell and adieu to you Spanish Ladies, farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain....
The sound was a merry one.
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