by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 - 1919)
A Sailor's Wife
Language: English
Sun in my lattice, and sun on the sea (Oh, but the sun is fair), And a sky of blue and a sea of green, And a ship with a white, white sail between, And a light wind blowing free-- And back from the stern, and forth from the land, The last farewell of a waving hand. Mist on the window and mist on the sea (Oh, but the mist is gray), And the weird, tall shape of a spectral mast Gleams out of the fog like a ghost of my past And the old hope stirs in me-- The old, old hope that warred with doubt, While the years with the tides surged in and out. Rain on my window and rain on the sea (Oh, but the rain is sad), And only the dreams of a vanished barque And a vanished youth shine through the dark, And torture the night and me. But somewhere, I think, near some fair strand, That lost ship lies with its waving hand.
Confirmed with Ella Wheeler, Wilcox Poetical works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Edinburgh : W. P. Nimmo, Hay, & Mitchell, 1917
Authorship:
- by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 - 1919), "A Sailor's Wife", subtitle: " Her Memory" [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 Anny Mesritz-van Velthuysen (1887 - 1965), "A Sailor's Wife", subtitle: "Her Memory" [ voice and piano ], from Two poems, no. 1, Amsterdam : Broekmans & Van Poppel [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-04-15
Line count: 21
Word count: 170