American Old Time Song Lyrics: 54 The Girl Who Waits Ashore
Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 54
THE GIRL WHO WAITS ASHORE
Copyright, 1894, by Central Publishing Co.
Words and Music by Roland Burke Hennessy,
I'm the mate of the good ship Rolling Tom,
And a right good ship is she.
On her deck have I sailed the ocean from
The Horn to the Northern Sea;
And the staunch old craft has carried me thro'
The windiest sort of gale,
Her men are the bravest, merriest crew
That ever furl'd a sail.
A sailor's love is his only wealth,
He's content with nothing more;
Then come, my lads, let as drink the health
Of the girl who wails ashore.
Chorus.
I left her standing on the quay, her eyes were filled with tears,
Their tender love-light I could see, their sadness and their fears,
I said, "Sweetheart, soon I'll return, and then we'll part no morel "
Through lonely days for her I yearn, the girl who waits ashore.
You remember, lads, that awful night
When the seas ran mountains high;
Old Tom was toss'd by the Storm King's might,
And we all prepared to die.
As the ship flew on, we knew not where,
In the gloom I saw a light;
And the face I loved, wreath'd In golden hair,
Seem'd to make our pathway bright;
And we made our port at the next sun-rise,
As we'd done so oft before,
But that light, my boys, was the watching eyes
Of the girl who waits ashore.- Chorus.
O'er the seas I've sail'd for many a day,
I'm not of the crying sort;
But my eyes were dim as I sailed away
From the ones I left in port;
For a sailor's life is a storm of sighs,
To be merry he must feign.
He laughs and he jests, while he vainly tries
To hide all his poor heart's pain;
But come, my lads, throw away all cart,
For we're bound for home once more,
And I soon shall see the face so fair
Of the girl who waits ashore.- Chorus.