LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,297)
  • Text Authors (19,849)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,116)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Edward Thompson, Commodore (c1738 - 1786)

The topsails shiver in the wind
 (Sung text for setting by T. Arne)
 See original
Language: English 
The topsails shiver in the wind,
  The ship she casts to sea;
But yet my soul, my heart, my mind,
  Are, Mary, moor'd with thee:
    For though thy sailor's bound afar,
    Still love shall be his leading star.

 ... 

Sirens in ev'ry part we meet,
  More fell than rocks or waves;
But such as grace the British fleet
  Are lovers and not slaves:
    No foes our courage shall subdue,
    Although we've left our hearts with you.

Should landsmen flatter when we've sail'd,
  O, doubt their artful tales;
No gallant sailor ever fail'd,
  If love breath'd constant gales:
    Thou art the compass of my soul,
    Which steers my heart from pole to pole.

 ... 

These are our cares; but if you're kind,
    We'll scorn the dashing main,
The rocks, and billows, and the wind,
  Will threaten us in vain.
Now England's glory rests with you,
    Our sails are full, sweet girls, adieu!

Composition:

    Set to music by Thomas Augustine Arne (1710 - 1778), "The topsails shiver in the wind", stanzas 1,3,2,4

Text Authorship:

  • by Edward Thompson, Commodore (c1738 - 1786), "The sailor's farewell"

Go to the general single-text view


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 157

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris