A life on the ocean wave,
A home on the rolling deep,
Where the scattered waters rave,
And the winds their revels keep!
(5) Like an eagle caged, I pine1
On this dull, unchanging shore:
Oh! give me the flashing brine2,
The spray and the tempest’s3 roar!
Once more on the deck I stand
(10) Of my own swift-gliding craft:
Set sail! Farewell to the land!
The gale4 follows fair abaft5.
We shoot through the sparkling foam
Like an ocean-bird set free;
(15) —Like the ocean-bird, our home
We’ll find far out on the sea.
The land is no longer in view,
The clouds have begun to frown;
But with a stout vessel6 and crew,
(20) We’ll say, “Let the storm come down!”
And the song of our hearts shall be,
While the winds and the waters rave,
A home on the rolling sea!
A life on the ocean wave!
1 pine: to want something badly
2 brine: salt water
3 tempest: storm
4 gale: strong wind
5 abaft: behind
6 vessel: ship
