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by Cicely Fox Smith (1882 - 1954)

A sea burthen
Language: English 
A ship swinging as the tide swings up and down,
And men's voices singing
East away, O! West away
And a very long way from London Town,
A very long way from London Town.

A lantern glowing and the stars looking down,
And the sea smells blowing
East away, O! West away
And a very long way from London Town,
A very long way, a long way from London Town.

Lights in wild weather from a tavern window old and brown,
And men singing together, men singing together,
East away, O! West away
And a very long way from London Town,
A very long way, a long way from London Town.

A ship swinging as the tide swings up and down,
And men's voices singing
East away, O! West away
And a very long way from London Town,
A very long way from London Town.

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

  • by Cicely Fox Smith (1882 - 1954), "A sea burthen", appears in Songs in Sail, first published 1914 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Michael (Dewar) Head (1900 - 1976), "A sea burthen", 1948, published 1949, from Six Sea Songs, no. 1. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]
  • by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "A sea burthen" [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this page: Thomas Dymit

This text was added to the website: 2008-11-19
Line count: 20
Word count: 145

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