Studies In Folk-song And Popular Poetry

An Extensive Investigation Into The Sources And Inspiration Of National Folk Song

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	STUDIES IN FOLK-SONG AND POPULAR POETRY.
	AMERICAN SEA SONGS. Oh, fare ye well, my pretty, fair maids, I 'm bound for the Rio Grande ! Ri-o-Rio ! I 'm bound for the Rio Grande ! No one who is old enough to remember the glo­rious spectacle of a full-rigged American clipper ship getting under full sail outside of the head­lands of a harbor, after having been cast off by the tug, is likely to have forgotten the sight: the white sails dropping from the yards, being sheeted home, and swelling out to the fresh wind, until a cloud of canvas sparkled in the sun; the strong and graceful life which the ship took on under their power; the foam curling up under the bow with her forward rush; the great plain of the ocean, with all its free airs and salt scents, beckoning to life and adventure seaward round the world. To this, to one on board or near enough to hear, will be added the indefinable and mysterious charm of the sailors' chants, as they haul in the bowline,