The wrack was dark an' shiny where it floated in the sea, There was no one in the brown boat but only him an' me; Him to cut the sea wrack, me to mind the boat, An' not a word between us the hours we were afloat. The wet wrack, The sea wrack, The wrack was strong to cut. We laid it on the grey rocks to wither in the sun, An' what should call my lad then, to sail from Cushendun? With a low moon, a full tide, a swell upon the deep, Him to sail the old boat, me to fall asleep. The dry wrack, The sea wrack, The wrack was dead so soon. There' a fire low upon the rocks to burn the wrack to kelp, There' a boat gone down upon the Moyle, an' sorra one to help! Him beneath the salt sea, me upon the shore, By sunlight or moonlight we'll lift the wrack no more. The dark wrack, The sea wrack, The wrack may drift ashore.
Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.
Authorship:
- by Agnes Shakespeare Higginson (1864 - 1955), as Moira O'Neill, from "Songs of the Glens of Antrim"  [author's text not yet checked 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 (Herbert) Hamilton Harty, Sir (1879 - 1941), "Sea wrack" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Sea Wrack", op. 386 (1953) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Sea wrack", c1900, published 1912 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 172