It’s off for a sailor thy father would go;
And it’s here in the harbor, in sight of the sea,
He hath left his wee babe with my song and with me:
‘Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow!’
Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow –
It’s oh for the waiting as weary days go!
And it’s oh for the heartache that smiteth me when
I sing my song over and over again:
‘Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow!’
‘Swing high and swing low ‘ –
The sea singeth so,
And it waileth anon in its ebb and its flow;
And a sleeper sleeps on to that song of the sea
Nor recketh he ever of mine or of me!
‘Swing high and swing low
While the breezes they blow –
‘T was off for a sailor thy father would go!’