What do I see and hear of an April morning?
Many a ridge and furrow, headland and bay,
'Tis merry ov a zummer's day, When vo'k be out a-haulèn hay,
I'm back on my old job again; the boss has raised my pay;
I've donned "civilians," and I've put my uniform away;
I crossed the gangway in the winter's raining,
Late in the night, when it was dreary dark;
Yes, bright the velvet lawn appears,
And fair the blooming bowers;
On the sea at Ômi,
Plovers fly the waves at dusk
"Möchte wieder in die Gegend,
Wo ich einst so selig war,
It's a board carved wooden cupboard;
the ancient dark-coloured oak
I've a pal called Billy Peg-leg, with one leg a wood leg,
And Billy' he's a ship's cook and lives upon the sea;
When the day's trick is over and the running lights are lit,
And the rigging fore and aft is trim and tight;
Old and battered now, it rests
With the spinning wheel and chests,
Come, little maid, from youthful days,
And let me paint you as you stood;
Along about six in th' mornin',
When th' drippin' sun turns out o' bed,
Ever stood th' twelve t' four
Anchor watch, alone at night,
When the road it is rough and the sun it is strong,
And the miles of the country seem long and more long,
When the night winds blow in from the open sea,
And darkness sifts down in the busy street,
Yes, this is the place where my boyhood
Saw its butterfly season depart:
There's a song has gone through my mind all day,
As a song will sometimes do;
I love to linger on my track
Wherever I have dwelt and parted;
I'm living in an eastern state
And though I do my best
The clock with one finger
Was made in the days
May I for my own self song's truth reckon,
Journey's jargon, how I in harsh days
"Rouse out, you sleepers! Come, now, rise and shine!"
How would you like to hear that cry again?
Mrs Moffat sold tomatoes,
Postal orders, ginger pop,
You may visit studios
In New York or gay Paree;
Give me a tub, a dirty tub,
Most any old tub will do,
A pub there is of far renown,
A pub that seamen know
The gilded thrones of kings may pass;
The magistrate's judicial hall,
I see a ship glide through a dock
With lovely white wings,
Swashin' down the quarter-deck, scuppers runnin' free,
All th' gang in workin' white, happy as c'n be;
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