Amaturus
July 6, 2023Pos de chantar
July 6, 2023A Poor French Sailor’s Scottish Sweetheart
I CANNOT forget my Joe,
I bid him be mine in sleep;
But battle and woe have changed him so
There ’s nothing to do but weep.
My mother rebukes me yet,
And I never was meek before;
His jacket is wet, his lip cold set,
He ’ll trouble our home no more.
Oh, breaker of reeds that bend!
Oh, quencher of tow that smokes!
I ’d rather descend to my sailor friend
Than prosper with lofty folks.
I ’m lying beside the gowan,
My Joe in the English bay;
I ’m Annie Rowan, his Annie Rowan,
He called me his Bien-Aimée.
I ’ll hearken to all you quote,
Though I ’d rather be deaf and free;
The little he wrote in the sinking boat
Is Bible and charm for me.
William Johnson Cory
William Johnson Cory (1823-1892) was a British educator and poet. He was the headmaster of Eton College and is known for his poem "Heraclitus". He was a member of the Cambridge Apostles, a secret society of intellectuals at the University of Cambridge. Cory's other works include "Ionica" and "A Guide to Modern English History".