SEA SONG
translated into English by: Laurence Hope (1865-1904)
- GAINST the planks of the cabin side,
- (So slight a thing between them and me,)
- The great waves thundered and throbbed and sighed,
- The great green waves of the Indian sea!
-
- Your face was white as the foam is white,
- Your hair was curled as the waves are curled,
- I would we had steamed and reached that night
- The sea's last edge, the end of the world.
- The wind blew in through the open port,
- So freshly joyous and salt and free,
- Your hair it lifted, your lips it sought,
- And then swept back to the open sea.
- The engines throbbed with their constant beat;
- Your heart was nearer, and all I heard;
- Your lips were salt, but I found them sweet,
- While, acquiescent, you spoke no word.
- So straight you lay in your narrow berth,
- Rocked by the waves; and you seemed to be
- Essence of all that is sweet on earth,
- Of all that is sad and strange at sea.
- And you were white as the foam is white,
- Your hair was curled as the waves are curled.
- Ah! had we but sailed and reached that night,
- The sea's last edge, the end of the world!
"Sea Song" is reprinted from India's Love Lyrics. Trans. Laurence Hope. New York: John Lane Co., 1906. |
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