Music Of The Waters - online book

Sailors' Chanties, Songs Of The Sea, Boatmen's, Fishermen's,
Rowing Songs, & Water Legends with lyrics & sheet music

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	Music of the Waters.             175
	sky. The Mediterranean can furnish dangerous enough storms upon occasion, and far worse than storms, the terrible white squall which lies ambushed under sunny-skies, and leaps unawares upon the doomed vessel. But the Mediterranean is not the deep sea, nor has it produced the best and boldest navigators, therefore, although we still seek the sources of our maritime law amid the rock-poised huts (once palaces) of Amalfi, we must go elsewhere for our true songs of the sea. " Borne on Beyond Sorrento and Amain, where The siren waits thee, singing song for song." The following song of the well-known composer of Italian popular songs—Paolo Tosti—is a great favourite with the sailors of Italy :— PERCHE VUOI TU FIDAS LA BARCA AL MARE.
	At least, this is the title by which the song is known, but the sailors will improvise their own words to the air, probably of some droll, lazy, impudent nature, such as delight the hearts of the fishermen of that town of glorious colours, softest lights, and sweetest sounds—Naples. In a very able article (in the Atlantic Monthly of October, 1858), entitled the " Language of the Sea," we learn how much we are indebted to Italy for the language that