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Three fishers went sailing away to the West, / Away to the West as the sun went down; / Each thought on the woman who loved him the best, / And the children stood watching them out of the town; / For men must work, and women must weep, / And there's little to earn, and many to keep, / Though the harbour bar be moaning.
Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower, / And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down; / They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower, / And the night-rack came rolling up ragged and brown.
But men must work, and women must weep, / Though storms be sudden, and waters deep, / And the harbour bar be moaning.
Three corpses lay out on the shining sands / In the morning gleam as the tide went down, / And the women are weeping and wringing their hands / For those who will never come home to the town; / For men must work, and women must weep, / And the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep; / And good-bye to the bar and its moaning.
Eversley, June 25, 1851.